Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
If Gucci had been a puppy, there would have been no question of his future once rescued, as many a hand, heart and home would have been opened to him.
Left tied to a tree in an outer regional city of Melbourne, it was not the
smell emanating from the little goat (pungent as it may have been) that was
rotten, but rather his circumstance.
Despite having knowingly abandoned the goat, sadly the culprit will never be
found. But thankfully the hapless sweet Gucci would. Found by a kind local
ranger and brought to sanctuary was he. We take great heart knowing that
many animals once deemed “livestock” who find themselves in pounds
throughout the country are, instead of being sold for slaughter, finding an
alternative, and far kinder, outcome.
However, should Gucci have been a puppy, there would have been no question
of his future once rescued, as many a hand, heart and home would have been
opened to him.
What surprises us most about this “oh so happy” little fellow, whose
dexterous and nibbling lips ricochet good vibes up one’s arm and nestle deep
into one’s soul, is the fact that he is “oh so happy”, despite the way the
tea leaves could have played out for him.
Young in both age and in heart, his future now will be anything but bleak,
as he has quickly turned our hearts over to him.
Although his castration is now complete and his manly scent will soon be no
more, there remains something quite rotten about society’s treatment of
animals. Something that sits beyond the countless studies that find cruelty
and callous acts towards animals, in their many varying degrees, to be a
precursor to larger crime and consistent with the “violence graduation
hypothesis”. Although these heartless acts are indeed a red flag for our
concern, there exists something else that is rather on the nose, yet daily
flies under the radar of most.
And these are the everyday and legal cruel acts perpetrated on and towards
gentle and innocent animals. Acts such as the castration of piglets, lambs,
kid goats and calves without any requirement of skill, pain relief or
follow-up care. Acts such as the forced separation and consequent mental
anguish of mothers and their much-loved babies. Acts such as the highly
profitable, yet morally questionable, “shipping” of highly sentient and
sensitive animals from our shores to far, far distant ones. Whilst this list
is incomplete, it gives a snapshot into our chequered view of animals.
British novelist and social reformist, Brigid Brophy, once said, “Whenever
people say, ‘We mustn’t be sentimental,’ you can take it that they are about
to do something cruel. And if they add, ‘We must be realistic,’ they mean
they are going to make money from it.”
An animal does not care the reason for their pain or suffering, only that
they are enduring it. With this in thoughtful mind, we cannot tut-tut at
some acts of cruelty and indifference towards animals whilst turning our
heads and hearts away from others.
We cannot point to other nations and condemn them for "unenlightened" ways
of thinking when, daily closer to home, we draw an arbitrary line in the
sand, our conscience and animal protection legislation, as to which animals
will receive our kindness and which ones will not, and not sense something
is rotten when we do.
"If we could live happy and healthy lives without harming others, why
wouldn't we?"
Return to Articles Reflecting a Vegan Lifestyle
Read more at Sentience Articles