This project was nearly a year in the making. I'm so grateful to
@Sentient_Media
's
@AnaBrdly
for offering me the space to put this important collection together. These stories needed to be told, and I thank the writers for bravely telling them. 1/9
After nearly 17 years together, I’ve said goodbye to my once-in-a-lifetime dog.
I hope you get to know and love any animal the way I was honoured to know and love Willy.
So much of my life is dedicated to saving animals, so it feels so unnatural to end the life of one. But part of saving them is ending their suffering. Snoopy was 18 years old. I adopted him just 2 years ago. He was blind and deaf, and the dementia had reached a point of suffering
My daughter’s kindergarten class had a field trip to a petting farm today. So, she skipped school. Instead we went to a local animal sanctuary where the animals aren’t forced to interact with people. They aren’t bred, nor sent to slaughtered when no longer useful. 1/3
Six years vegan today. Still alive!! (Thriving actually, according to recent blood test.) It all started with
@veganuary
, and now says I’ve saved over 2000 animals.
One benefit of being a long-time foreign correspondent in Russia is you notice the Siberian Victory Day seals have learned more militarized tricks every year
Spoke to the mayor of Coutts, Alberta, who confirmed that there are live cattle stuck in multiple trucks behind the blockade, for days. He also expressed concern about feed from the other side of the border not making into the country. 1/
If someone would have told you even a year ago that the true plight of dairy cows would be spoken about on stage at the
#Oscars
, that animal ag &
#speciesism
would be equally condemned alongside other forms of oppression, would you have believed it? Wow.
#dairyisscary
I gave my students an option to view the documentary Dominion and write a reflection paper, in lieu of another assignment. Many took the option. Most have had a massive awakening. At least one has decided to give up eating animals.
Made another batch of vegan dandelion honey. My daughter’s been learning all about bees at kindergarten. She wanted to show her teacher that there’s ways to have honey without taking it from bees.
Honestly, transitioning to a
#plantbased
way of eating is literally the LEAST most of us can do. I’m sick of all the dancing around this super obvious point because politicians and scientists enjoy the taste of cows.
#COP26
Here it is! My first for
@voxdotcom
:
“labeling claims such as ‘ethically/responsibly/thoughtfully raised’ have no legal definition and can be used on products that come from factory farms where welfare requirements are no higher than standard practices”
Thinking about all the companion animals, captive animals, farmed animals and wildlife who will suffer immensely today due to
#fireworks
. When will we finally prioritize the well-being of others over our own momentary superficial joy?
Spent the day putting together 24 fully plant-based, teen-friendly freezer meals for vegan family members. Total cost of ingredients was around $150, even including meat and cheese alternatives. Being vegan doesn’t have to be expensive. Even right now.
“Thunberg said the spillover of diseases from animals to humans was caused by farming methods, adding that a move to a plant-based diet could save up to 8 billion tonnes of CO2 each year.” Bingo.
Does it seem a little convenient that with the emergence of plant based meats suddenly everyone is anti-processed foods? Like you don’t eat bread? Crackers? Granola bars? Condiments? Nuggets? Everyone is eating only from the produce and meat section now? Yeah right.
I’d love to write the story about how my silent celiac disease went undiagnosed for several agonizing months because doctors kept blaming my Veganism and soy consumption for my major nutrient deficiencies.
Can confirm that KFC’s new plant-based box offers the very same delicious euphoria-turns-self-loathing experience as the original recipe. No animal death guilt tho.
The “vegan agenda” is nowhere near on par w/the vested financial interests of animal ag industries. Animal activists just want to end animal harm (and most do the work for free). Animal ag industries want to make billions of dollars. These motivators cannot be compared.
The
@washingtonpost
’s
@lreiley
reports on cooling sales of meat alts. Price is a top factor. But not mentioned is why: gov subsidies keeping meat prices artificially low. “One pound of hamburger meat would actually cost US$30 w/o any government subsidies.”
Imagine being a white person in CANADA, with free healthcare and free education, with more rights than the majority of the people on the planet, with an ability to democratically elect your leader, and thinking you don’t have enough
#FREEDOM
. Gtfoh
My daughter’s kindergarten teacher is Indigenous, and brings some cultural teachings into the classroom. Then my daughter teaches me, and I am so grateful.
I still meet people who think cows just naturally and continually make milk, and not that they are actually mothers being continually impregnated, their babies taken away soon after birth, so their breastmilk can be re-routed for human consumption. Still.
My foster dog Dolby needs a retirement home in the
#Winnipeg
area, quick. He’s due back at the shelter this weekend. We can’t let that happen.
Senior, house trained, chill, sleeps most of the day, very tolerant of other dogs and kids, but prefers calm & quiet & cuddles.
#adoptme
You think you’re hot? In Canada, there are no laws regarding temperatures above or below which farmed animals cannot be transported. Yup, even today. Even when it feels like +40 outside. They still go. Are you paying for this suffering?
I’ve been writing about animal issues long enough now that I am able to see cultural shifts happen before my eyes. Story ideas that were rejected by editors a few years ago, are being accepted now, with fervour.
A local junior high has asked me to contribute a video about veganism to their upcoming Culture Day event. It’s a small audience of course, but this feels like a monumental moment, having vegan culture be recognized, appreciated and welcomed into the classroom. Can’t wait!!
The amount of articles published this week in mainstream media discussing turkeys as sentient individuals, highlighting their suffering in industrial farming, and advocating for alternatives this US Thanksgiving, is especially notable. And incredible.
The animal rights movement is not immune to racism. We know this. But veganism, as I know it, as a philosophy, ethical position and way of life, is inherently intersectional and fundamentally anti-all oppression. I also recognize tho, that this is not the position of all vegans.
Dear
@MileyCyrus
: fish don’t just magically contain omega 3. They get it from eating algae. And so can you! Skip the dead animal, go to the source.
#fishfeelpain
Almost 50 years she was there. Tortured in a bathtub prison. But absolutely innocent. How did anyone ever think this was an ok thing to do?? I’m livid and heartbroken and ashamed.
#kiska
Anti-maskers mass-attacking
#Winnipeg
businesses choosing to keep mask requirements, via social media, abusive messages and low online reviews, are a special kind of disgusting.
The video of a dumpster full of live fish is very disturbing. Moving away from the retail sale of pets should extend to all animals, not only dogs and cats.
Finally an accurate headline to describe what a barn fire really is, not mere loss of product or money, not just “devastation” for the farmer, but MAY BE THE LARGEST CATTLE KILLING EVER [apart from the nearly 100k killed by US meat & dairy industry daily].
Abuse is inherent in all industrialized animal farming, normal, common, routine, and all the other words that describe something not rare or unusual, as most people believe cruelty caught on undercover video to be. It’s always!
This is my 24th article for
@TorontoStar
. A lot of these stories have only come to be as a result of important information and insights gained by activists and undercover investigators, those now deemed by the Ontario government to be acting illegally:
In some personal news: after 12 years living abroad, married, then returning home, unmarried, FT single parent, building a career, then a pandemic, housebound in Winnipeg for two (or is it three?) years — I’m still alive! That is all.
Very excited to announce that I have been awarded a media fellowship from
@VTLawSchool
, with a focus on animal law. This summer I will learn much more about animal law in the US, and look forward to being able to branch out further in my work.
Proud to be joining the
@WinnipegHumane
Society Board of Directors!
The crucial institution has in recent years been moving steadily toward including all animals in its advocacy. Because, of course.
I did it!
Welcome 16 year old Snoopy, relinquished by his owners after spending most of his life in a kennel. He was covered in mattes & had to have all teeth removed. He’s blind, nearly deaf & overweight. And yet, he’s still the sweetest boy ever!!! We love him.
#AdoptDontShop
Barns packed with live animals do not require fire protection and prevention measures because farmed animals are considered property, not living beings who don’t deserve to be burned alive.
But yeah, super ethical and sustainable industry.
Marinated and roasted smoked tofu. This time I used vegan beef -flavoured stock and steak spice. Next time we going for maple and mustard roasted “ham.”
#dinnertime
#Veganuary
Caring for an aging dog is so hard. This is my 4th go at loving an old pup till their end, but Willy is extra special. Together 16 years. Now he has kidney disease. He’s on the special food to help slow progression, but the drinking & peeing rule our world. We don’t sleep much.
Why aren’t grass-fed beef/ free range meat/ regenerative grazing/ etc. proponents at the very front of line promoting massive reduction in current meat consumption rates? That’s the only way it would ever even be close to working at mass scale. I never see that conversation. Ever
Few things shock me much when it comes to animal cruelty these days. But practices like this, done out in the open and culturally celebrated, absolutely shock and appall me. How can we seemingly live in such different worlds where this is considered ok?
When I adopted Snoopy from a local group focused on seniors, I imagined we’d have maybe a couple months together. We had almost two years. I’m so grateful. He was the cuddliest, most docile and sweet guy. Even after such a rough life. He should have hated the world. He didn’t.
My daughter skipped school again. With my permission ☺️. Her class is on a field trip to the zoo. We opted out. Instead we went for a BTS tour of
@WinnipegHumane
, where we know the animals won’t be kept in cages forever. 🧵
When farmers send me footage to prove how awesome life is for their animals, I'm always amazed at how two people can witness the same thing, yet see it so completely differently. Desensitization, tradition, and most of all money, can certainly do that.
“the spot opens by first centering not the consumer, not even the product, but a cow, who—perhaps for the first time in a TV commercial—is referred to not as ‘it,’ but rather ‘her.’”
My breakdown of
@BeyondMeat
’s brilliant new ad, for
@Sentient_Media
:
“Killing animals for food will become less acceptable. Regulations will focus on humane treatment. Farmers will get subsidies to transition to plant-based farming as eating habits change. Governments will provide incentives for adopting homeless pets.” 🙏🏻
Canadian Thanksgiving. No animals needed:
Mashed potatoes and pumpkin stuffed with plant-based meatballs. Caesar salad. Stuffing balls. Garden Brussels sprouts. Pumpkin pie. All
#vegan
. Traditions can evolve.
If
#aggag
laws were in place in Ontario last summer, this rescue might not have happened. In the ongoing debate about
#Bill156
, this is really the most important perspective: theirs. 🐄
My latest for
@tenderlymag
, featuring
@dogtalesrescue
:
#stopbill156
Watch Wayne's final words to the jury before they began deliberation. Now, we can say this is what WILL happen with certainty, because the jury made the right choice. They found Wayne & Paul not guilty on all charges and set a powerful precedent for the
#RightToRescue
in court.
Is this a joke??!
“In total, $1.75 billion is to be paid to Canada’s 11,000 dairy farmers over an eight-year period.”
Why are we trying so hard to bail out a sinking, unethical business, with tax payer money?