Hi from a sad vegetarian

[babs806]

I've been a vegetarian/animal rights supporter for a couple of years now. When I first learned about the horrors of factory farming and lab animals, I was angry; but lately, all I feel is sad. When I drive by a field where cattle graze, I say a silent prayer that they will be lucky enough to die instantly when they are slaughtered. I give money to lots of animal rights organizations, but I am starting to hate opening the mail because when I read about some new horror (Korean dog killing, for example) I just burst into tears. I feel frustrated because there are so many uncaring people out there who just don't get it. Have any of you experienced this? How do you stop thinking about the suffering? Thanks for any advice.

Babs

[tammy]

Hi Babs,

Thanks for your question. Yes, I get frustrated all the time. But then I remember, I was once one of those people who didn't know better. Yes, I confess, I ate animals, I wore them, etc.

But through some crazy connection, I picked up a magazine one day and found out about all this stuff and decided that being vegan was the best way I could help.

What keeps me from being overwhelmingly frustrated is by focusing more on what I can do to help the animals, rather than what I cannot do.

You mentioned that you support several organizations financially. Have you thought about getting more involved and volunteering? While we can't control other people, we can help influence their behaviours by educating them about factory farming and encouraging them to go veg. There are a gazillion ways to do this, some of which are listed here
http://www.bayareaveg.org/volunteer.htm

For example, our group tabled at the big SF Pride Festival for the first time in 2003. We gave away stacks of information. We were there again in 2004, and a couple visiting from another state stopped by and told us they became vegan (from being carnivores!) because of information from our table in 2003.

There are so many street fairs and farmer's markets and so many other opportunities out there to get information to people. True, there will be people that don't care. But we will also find people who do care. They just need the opportunity to find out....

Tammy
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