Witness to the Slaughter at Farm

By Chrissianne Carpenter

Up to the age of 13 I was a meat eating carnivore who despised vegetables...and living in the country we ate anything that could be caught...we had rabbits and hares hanging on the outside doors..birds hanging too...the smell of rabbit viscera is still in my nostrils after 48 years...

I became uneasy about the stuff I was eating but believed that they felt no pain as I had been told...but my conscience was uneasy...getting worse by the month...I was one of 4 children and no one else seemed to care...

Then, my defining moment came at age 13 when I was witness to the pre Christmas slaughter at my uncle's turkey farm..they did not die easily or painlessly...there and then I decided never to eat any sentient being again...ever..

And so I was the only person I knew who did not eat meat until I was in my 20's....my mother was encouraged by the doctor not to cook special food for me so I lived on potatoes and tomato soup...I ate whatever vegetables were on offer but in the 1960's it was not much...

I have never regretted my decision...not once...so much for a phase I would grow out of...

These days I do not defend my choice...now I have given up trying to make people see the connection I saw at 13...now I am vegan...I learned that day old boy chicks are minced alive as they are not needed..and made into fertilizer...this is with free range eggs too - any commercial eggs...I saw a video of this happening and the 'farmer' saying that it is common practice all over the world...how can I support that?   I stopped drinking milk years ago...so the step to vegan is not so hard...how can I enjoy cheese when I know that newly born male calves are thrown aside and beaten to death in front of their mothers?  Or sent to overseas veal farms?  I have seen film of all that too...I want no part in it...

PS. If every one of us inspired ONE person to go meatless imagine the difference we could make in ten years time. I am going to collect inspirational vegetarian/vegan stories to share with everyone. If you think your story will inspire others, please share with me by sending it to info@veglov.com. I will post your stories on this www.veglov.com blog. I believe everyone has his/her own story, I think it must be great when we can share our stories and inspire others. Let’s make the world a better place. ~ Xiao Kang.