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- National Animal Rights Association, Suite 10684, 26/27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, D02 X361.
Veganism
Animals are not ours to consume. They are living, breathing, feeling creatures who did not volunteer themselves to become another item on your plate!
What is a vegan, and why become one?
A vegan is someone who doesn’t consume any
animal derived products such as meat, poultry,
seafood, eggs, dairy products or honey.
It would also go without saying that vegans don’t
wear any clothing made from animals, don’t buy
any products that are tested on animals, don’t
support any bloodsports and don’t attend any
‘shows’ (e.g. circuses) that use animals.
Why would anyone think it is morally acceptable to eat an animal? We have no right to. Apart from the ethical perspective, it’s incredibly cruel. Animals raised to be killed and eaten are kept in overcrowded, confined, filthy conditions where disease is rampant. Due to the stress and psychosis associated with this, fighting and even cannibalism is common on such ‘farms’.
Many people think that by simply becoming a vegetarian, that they are eliminating cruelty from their diet. Unfortunately, this just isn’t enough. By drinking milk, not only are you supporting the dairy industry, but the veal industry too. For cows to produce milk, they are kept in a constant state of pregnancy. Within hours of the calf being born, he/she is taken away from their mother, and put in a veal crate – which is so small they can’t even turn around. All this, just so humans can consume the breast milk of another species!
Buying eggs, whether labelled ‘free range’ or not is just as bad. Only female chicks are useful to the egg industry, so males are thrown into live grinding machines upon hatching. Female chicks have their beaks seared off with a hot blade and are shoved into sheds with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of others. After 18 months – in which they produce about 400 eggs – they are killed and made into dog food.
Shockingly, over
64 billion land animals and
1,000 billion aquatic animals are killed every year.
The Facts
Their lives are short, chickens are killed after only a
few weeks, pigs after 6 months, sheep 2 years and cattle 4 years. All of whom would live for many years naturally in the wild. Then they are brought to the slaughterhouse where
they are tied upside-down, and are then either shot, stunned, or have their throats slit. Many are still fully conscious while they are being boiled or skinned.
Fish suffer just as much. After being hauled from the water they experience an excruciatingly painful decompression, followed by a slow, distressing death by suffocation. Lobsters are boiled alive. Sometimes they are rendered insensate immediately before boiling by a stab into the brain (‘pithing’), in the belief that this will stop suffering. However, a lobster’s brain operates from not one but several ganglia and disabling only the frontal ganglion does not usually result in death or unconsciousness.
Foie gras is made from the enlarged livers of ducks and geese. Metal pipes are shoved down their throats and they are force-fed 7 pounds of food per day, which causes liver disease. Only males are used because they produce larger livers – female hatchlings are drowned or crushed to death.
Think honey is ok? Think again! Honey production is a big industry, and bees are subjected to conditions and procedures similar to those used in factory farming. Queen bees have their wings clipped and are artificially inseminated, males are decapitated when they are no longer of value, and even whole colonies are killed off at winter to avoid the cost of feeding them!
A matter of Ethics
Apart from all the obvious animal-cruelty related reasons to adopt a vegan diet (just look at the video ‘Earthlings‘), it is not
ethically or morally right to farm or eat another living creature, no matter how big or small their enclosures are.
What’s needed isn’t bigger cages, its empty ones.
Stop letting yourself be desensitized. Open your eyes to what ‘meat’ really is. What is a burger, a sausage, a steak, a rasher or a drumstick? Don’t let what it is called fool you. This was just a method devised to detach you from the truth. Detach you so much that you now feel nothing as you literally swallow hundreds of lives every year. They were once living beings, with as much a right to live as you and I.
There is no excuse, GO VEGAN NOW!
It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat.
Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles and enough water for 17 showers.
A typical pig factory farm generates a quantity of raw waste equal to that of a city of 12,000 people.
What’s needed isn’t bigger cages,
it's empty ones.
Open your eyes, see the truth. If you continue to buy meat and other animal-derived ‘products’, you are just as responsible for the misery and deaths of these animals as those who murdered them.
Irish Slaughterhouse figures for 2017 - 2022.
Currently there are approximately 111,300 cattle farms, 36,800 sheep farms, 300 pig farms and 350 poultry farms in this country. The number of animals killed as a result are below.
2017
Total number of animals killed: 103,505,884
2018
Total number of animals killed:
108,530,928
That's an increase of 5,025,044 since 2017.
2019
Total number of animals killed: 114,063,691
That's an increase of 5,532,763 since 2018.
2020
Total number of animals killed: 119,830,729
That's an increase of 5,767,038 since 2019.
2021
Total number of animals killed: 118,426,814
That's a decrease of 1,403,915 since 2020.
2022
Total number of animals killed: 115,982,902.
That's a decrease of 2,443,912 since 2021.
“There are dozens of major slaughterhouses across Ireland. In this documentary, we talk to activists and display footage of animals entering abattoirs across the nation. It’s important to get this footage and information out there to raise awareness about the reality of how non-human animals are being treated in Ireland.”
– Melissa Mullen
Don't you agree it's time to go vegan? The animals are counting on you!
Where to start?
It has never been more important to become a vegan, and it’s never been easier too! If you would like more information, have any questions, or would like a free Go Vegan! pack, just contact us and we would be happy to help you in any way we can.
Can Ireland transition to a vegan agricultural system? YES!
Thanks to this report written by James O'Donovan, from 'Nature Rising' and 'Vegan Sustainability', no one can deny that transitioning Ireland to a vegan agricultural system is ethical, environmentally friendly, sustainable, and positive for the economy.
Looking for somehwhere vegan-friendly to eat in Ireland?
Check out this great guide here: The Irish Vegan
Mindset
When thinking of becoming vegan consider the reasons why you are making the choice. Remembering why you start is key.
Knowledge
Its never been easier to expand your knowledge so brush up on the benifits of a vegan diet, you wont believe it!
Creative
A great way to sustain a vegan diet is to be creative, all vegetables are culinary aromats, the possibilities are endless!
Veganize
You can veganize your meals! Simply replace the meat-based protein with a hearty alternative of your choice.
Add foods
Instead of removing foods from your diet consider adding new foods to replace animal products.
Support
Don't know any other vegans and need some support? We'll help put you in touch with other vegans in your area!
Influencing Real Change
Change doesn’t happen on its own, individuals need to take action to create a shift in social consciousness and legal policy.
We aim to help influence this change, and be part of a global movement that achieves the total liberation of all animals.
NARA is a legal, grassroots level organisation that only operates within the law. Information on this website is for the purpose of legal protest and information only. It should not be used to commit any criminal acts or harassment. NARA is not affiliated to any other animal rights group. NARA has no links or involvement with the Animal Liberation Front or the Animal Rights Militia. Any articles published on this web site relating to illegal activities are posted for the sole reason of publishing news related to animal rights, and are not intended to incite or encourage similar acts.
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CONTACT
- [email protected]
- National Animal Rights Association, Suite 10684, 26/27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, D02 X361.
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