Bridget’s testimonies

I went to an animal rights conference earlier this year and a woman from the Vegetarian Society talked about how people who are vegetarians for health reasons and environmental reasons generally would go right back to eating meat if they discovered some health benefits or figured out some sustainable way of farming it – and that’s so true, which is a shame because people ought to be doing it for the sake of looking after innocent animals.

Why do you need to become a vegan?

I have to admit that it took me a long time to realise why being a vegetarian wasn’t doing enough for the rights of animals, and this was largely out of ignorance, because I thought so long as I brought free ranged eggs and organic milk that it would be OK.

The fur trade

The Auckland Animal Rights Collective do a great job at raising awareness about the fur trade, I went to one of their protests the other day on Broadway and everyone else looked younger than me, but they were definitely a lot more braver (like when talking to the pedestrians about it), which was great because it showed how much they cared for the animals.

Letter to the Herald regarding pig farming

I went leafleting to raise awareness about pig farming again today with the SAFE crew in Ponsonby (it was cool because I got to visit Nikki Kaye’s office and have a nice chat to her staff about it and then we went into a lot of the stores who were happy to let us have space on their displays). Anyhow, my friend pointed out to me that I had my letter to the editor of the NZ Herald published so I went and brought a copy – unfortunately they changed it a lot but here is the full version:

Thank you for your editorial on pork farming in New Zealand on 25 May 2009. I had the privilege of bumping into Save Animals From Exploitation’s campaign director Hans Kriek the other day and he informed me that in their natural habitat pigs would not eat and excrement in the same area, yet they are forced to do this in the factories. Seeing the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee’s chairman Peter O’Hara justify such cruel conditions on TV One’s Sunday programme by saying that “there is no reason to think that the animals are not happy” made me so angry. It is incredulous that this is the man the government is relying on to make recommendations on reviewing the animal welfare code. If only he could experience the same suffering they go through – perhaps he could have his dinner inside a toilet bowl and keep his wife inside a crate with no room to move during her pregnancies?

Crossing the Harbour Bridge

I crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge today – the view from the top was beautiful and the air was so refreshing!

Dressed as a pig

I’ve been dressed up for the week as a pig to raise awareness about how factory farmed pigs in New Zealand suffer. The kids love it and in a way it is about getting them while they’re young, because often it can be easy to become desensitised to such issues when you’re older and more cynical. If you missed it I seriously beg you to watch the following documentary that was aired on TV last Sunday:

Live sheep exports

New Zealand stopped live exports in 2004 after 5000 sheep died on an Australian ship bound for Saudi Arabia, prompting international disgust. However, for the past four years Saudi officials have been negotiating with New Zealand Ministry officials to try to lift the ban, and the government has plans for an agreement which would once again see sheep sent on a three week ocean journey to the Middle East simply to be slaughtered for their Hajj festival (a religious ceremony which involves families buying sheep from the market to take home and sacrifice).

Poor little dog

It’s a beautiful Summer but always remember to take moments to think about what we can do to make the world a good place for animals to live in. Please pray for dear little Bobbie – his mouth was tied with electrical tape and his face swollen with scars when he was found by animal welfare officers. And remember to thank those people down at the SPCA and SAFE because without them so much suffering just goes unnoticed – they always appreciate donations for example of pet food, so next time we’re in supermarkets we have to think about the things we’re buying and whether we really need them and can replace it with for example something for a cat. We can go one lunch break without whatever we were going to have – we can even go without the meal altogether. If one cat misses out on one day it might be their last. So many of them are put down each year simply because the SPCA doesn’t have enough resources to look after them.

I saw something that broke my heart today

I looked out the window this afternoon and saw a cat that looked like my dear old friend Claude, who used to sit with me out on the balcony at nights when I was lonely. I thought perhaps the neighbours across the street had gotten a new cat, but then later I started to notice that this cat was going door to door, probably looking for its home. It was so heartbreaking as there wasn’t really much I could do… If only there was some way humans and animals could communicate better.

Heartbreaking stories

I’ve just been spending New Year’s Eve reading an article on the background behind the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. It’s really sad and a reminder of how we need to constantly stay focused on being aware about why these wars happen, and to always ask ourselves what we can do about all the suffering of those far away from us.