The Why

I work on an alpaca farm a few hours a week. Alpacas tend to fear people, b/c people tend to kill alpacas. So it was a big deal to me one day when I noticed the 'pacas didn't get up from their comfy kushed position as I walked amongst them scooping poop & filling water buckets. For whatever reason, it was a really big deal. Maybe I was hungover. But it occurred to me then that the trust of these animals was about the hugest compliment I'd received. I began to ask myself if I'd earned it. Sure, I loved animals and took good care of the ones in my teensy part of the world. I'd stopped eating animal flesh a while back. But I was still drinking milk, still eating eggs, still wearing leather boots (and coveting more of them). And what had I ever done to help an animal that wasn't cute & fluffy & in my face? Nothing.

I spent the next couple months reading like crazy on the internet, every animal rights, animal rescue, animal anything I could find. I read & read & cried & cried. I felt like an ass. Finally I decided to do something. This blog is one step in my plan. It's not about me. I'm really dull. It's about showing plain old ignorant idiots like myself how they can help, in large ways & small ways. The more I try to live a compassionate life, the more I realize how easy it is to get tripped up or stalled out.

So the piece of advice I will start with...if you're having a hard time committing to veganism, try spending more time with animals. Especially prey animals, animals that are more often than not exploited by greedy, selfish humans. Get a bunny. (And for the love of god get it from the pound and keep it indoors.) Volunteer at the local humane society. Drive out to the country & look a cow in the eye. It's so easy to separate ourselves from the animals we consume. Make it harder.