Before I start learning about animal welfare, I wanted to write down a few thoughts on what I already know and what I expect to face. I want to make a difference in the lives of animals and in order to do that I should start learning from the ground up on the horrible things that are happening to billions of living creatures today. Learning about the plight of animals might open up a pathway to do something impactful years down the line to help individual animals or even the systems in place. Even before reading my first page or article though, I already have a few worries.
Upsetting Images of Animal Cruelty
One thing that comes to mind is that I’m honestly scared to read about what is really happening to animals. I know it’s going to cause me grief; I can sometimes barely stomach seeing roadkill on the side of the road. I know there are many, many animals born in cages with no room to walk. I know that there are places where animals live and are slaughtered before ever seeing grass or sunlight. This has always immensely bothered me but I use the privilege of distracting myself to avoid thinking about it. I have begun to follow different animal welfare accounts on my social media such as ASPCA and Peta, and now the algorithms are showing me their posts and similar organization’s posts. Unfortunately, it seems that an effective marketing strategy is showing you horrifying and depressing videos of abused animals. I’m now seeing these everyday. While it probably isn’t great for my mental health, they do strengthen my resolve to try and be a part of the solution.
I’m Worried My Diet Will Have To Change
I’ve made a few personal choices in terms of boycotting certain animal products already at this point of my life. I do not drink Fairlife products (after reading the news of the abuse going on in one of their locations) and I have always refused to eat veal. But I’m scared to read more into the subject of animal welfare and factory farming because I’m quite sure vegetarianism will inevitably be the clear answer (or even veganism, but I would start small). It’s sad to think that I’m afraid to be knowledgeable enough about injustice to avoid changing my diet. Reading about how horrible the industry really is, I do not doubt that I will make the jump quickly. It is something I would just get used to, but I feel shame in feeling that way. I already have a severe allergy to peanuts and nuts which has limited my diet already, and I believe nuts are a high protein source for vegetarians/vegans. But is limiting my diet somewhat worth it, knowing the suffering having an expanded diet causes? Probably.
Learning more will feel more like a burden to carry with me for the rest of my life. Ignorance is bliss; learning more specifics about the disgusting things that people inflict on other living creatures is not going to be a walk in the park. But I do believe that I ought to. I am in a position of power and privilege to be able to switch my diet if I really want to. I am able to use extra resources and time to be a champion of creatures that cannot advocate for themselves. This is true about a lot of horrors in the world, and while I can’t (and frankly, don’t have the emotional bandwidth to) learn about every problem, I can at the very least invest in one issue.
My Goals for This Animal Welfare Site
My current goal is to just increase my knowledge by reading, as well as improving my understanding of what I read by synthesizing the topics into posts. My writing skills should get better to boot! If somehow this website starts getting enough views, I would love to turn on advertisements and use that revenue to donate to worthy nonprofits and shelters. It would be great to be able to expand this effort to giving resources to needy organizations besides just knowledge sharing to the void of the Internet. I do not want to assume that will happen, but knowing it’s possible makes it more exciting to be writing and sharing what I learn.
If someone reads this and wants to stay along for the ride, welcome to our combined journey. I know there are other people like me that yearn to do something good for this planet. Even if animal welfare isn’t your cup of tea (which I’m assuming it is since you’re on this website), maybe this will encourage you to do something similar on your own on a subject you deeply care about. This world can be a cruel place, but there are always people striving to make it better. Now, I’m off to read Animal Liberation Now by Peter Singer and anticipating giving up meat by the time I finish it. Stay tuned!