ANTIslavery

Human animals do not require animal products of any kind in order to live healthy lives. In fact, it’s been shown it can be quite deadly for us to consume an animal’s flesh and/or secretions. Environmentally speaking, using animals for “food” is a disaster and yet humans continue to enslave, torture and steal the lives away from fellow animals to the tune of billions upon billions year after year. Below I have recorded some antislavery, anti-torture and anti-murder thoughts on the matter which I will continue to add to as I find them:

But what if we all repeated the exact same thing? So what? If 1,000,000 people spoke clearly and with one voice to say that: “Animals have a right not to be used as property. Did you know that going vegan is easer than ever and that it is the right thing to do for nonhuman animals?” how would that be a bad thing? I’m sincerely puzzled by this constant and strange “criticism”. In fact, this kind of criticism is just a way for our opponents to try to draw us off message, and to silence us. Don’t be silenced! Activism isn’t just a matter of being original: it’s about doing what’s right most effectively.
—Vincent J. Guihan (March 5, 2010)

Welfare activities are popular because they accept our society’s violent and speciesist belief that nonhuman animals are here for us to exploit and kill, but they are counterproductive because by such acceptance, they also promote and strengthen the violent and speciesist notion that animals are here for us to exploit and kill. Welfare activities are part of a vicious circle.
—Dan Cudahy (March 4, 2010)

We are sending out the message, even to extemely young children, that animals are ours. Our property, and ours to do with as we please. Their personhood is taken away. We are teaching our children to be selective.
—Ben Frost (February 28, 2010)

I am a vegan because it is the minimum standard of moral belief, behavior, and attitude regarding nonhuman animals. Speciesism is the same underlying wrong as racism, sexism, and heterosexism, only in a different form. The speciesism of our society is extreme, and that is the only reason veganism is not widely considered a minimum standard of decency.
—Dan Cudahy (February 18, 2010)

Why do vegans have to be so careful about how we are telling non-vegans THE TRUTH? Remaining ignorant of the atrocities that humans inflict on animals (that is within our control to stop with our purchasing power), is not justifiable. Ignorance is not bliss. Your ignorance is the opposite of bliss for billions of suffering animals, who so deserve the right to their little portion of light and bliss.
—Marcia “Butterflies” Katz (November 14, 2009)

I quickly understood that living a life of compassion meant living a life where I care for and love the “least of these”, those who literally have no voice to speak with, no way to communicate the pain they are in. I started out going plant-based because I wanted to save myself, I wanted to live a long life with out disease. I am vegan, because of my desire to live a life of compassion and to care for the least of these.
—Natala Constantine (November 11, 2009)

We can’t be honest with our children about the ways animals are exploited because we ourselves are uncomfortable with it on some level and know our children would not be comfortable with it either. Most of us are aware that other animals, including the ones we regularly exploit are intelligent, sensate individuals with interests in living and continuing their lives free of exploitation.
—Lucas Hayes (November 11, 2009)

When we arbitrarily choose to explain complex animal behavior as instinct, only when nonhumans are involved, we are being speciesist. Attributing the behavior of nonhumans to instinct has the effect of minimizing their capabilities and accomplishments, reducing them to unthinking machines, denying their sentience and personhood, and justifying our own feelings of superiority and our continued exploitation of them.
—Ken Hopes (October 29, 2009)

Veganism is an act of nonviolent defiance. It is our statement that we reject the notion that animals are things and that we regard sentient nonhumans as moral persons with the fundamental moral right not to be treated as the property or resources of humans.
—Gary L. Francione (October 24, 2009)

[L]et’s stop talking about veganism as a matter of compassion, benevolence and other nice-sounding, but ultimately anthropocentric missives. The idea that we are “being kind”, “acting compassionately”, or “saving lives” just by being vegan is misguided. It’s also paternalistic. Veganism is a matter of justice, and it reflects the absolute minimum of justice that I owe other persons (human and non). That doesn’t mean we’re not compassionate people. It doesn’t mean we can’t act compassionately toward other animals (human or non). It just means that veganism is what we owe them. It’s not an act of charity.
—Vincent J. Guihan (October 23, 2009)

We human animals, at best, are omnivores. This means we can thrive without ever consuming another animal’s flesh and/or secretions. This, of course, also means that what we do to other animals is unnecessary for our survival. What this boils down to is that we commit horrific crimes against fellow beings mainly because “they taste good” and “it’s just too difficult” to change the way we think and then act upon others.
—Randy W. Sandberg (October 23, 2009)

Veganism isn’t about sometimes choosing to exploit animals for your taste-buds, your vanity or to accommodate your budget. Veganism isn’t just about “diet”. If you consume animal products, you’re not vegan. It’s a simple definition and if you stick to it, it does not make you a “fanatic” or a nitpicker—it makes you consistent and unequivocal in your eschewing involvement in the exploitation of nonhuman animals.
—Mylène Ouellet (September 30, 2009)

With all the advancements of human “civilization”, our addiction to killing keeps us in the dark ages. It inhibits us from cultivating our capacity for kindness, empathy, and justice; the very qualities we need to develop if we are to move forward into a safe and prosperous future, in which we do not fear one another.
—Angel Flinn (September 30, 2009)

If the statement “I used to be vegan” is in any way offensive to you it is most likely because you think of veganism as an ethical obligation and responsibility. If that were the way that everyone understood veganism then saying “I used to be vegan” would not be a statement that would establish a connection or understanding, and rather would be a confrontation. If veganism were, and I believe it is, about ideals, than it would vibe the same way as saying “I used to be a feminist,” or “I used to be in favor of civil rights.”
—Dan Dunbar (September 23, 2009)

It’s always good to do less harm, but it doesn’t solve the root of the problem, which is exploitation. Instead we should be teaching people about veganism and that using animals is wrong. That is the message I want to convey when talking to people about veganism.
—Jay Kateel (September 18, 2009)

Who’s the real fundamentalist? The person who simply speaks the truth about where food comes from, or the person who knowingly chooses to ignore it, listening only to the falsehoods of the meat and dairy clergy? Isn’t the latter more akin to choosing to believe the earth is 5,000 years old despite clear evidence to the contrary? The reality is that veganism couldn’t be more different from religion. While religion is based on faith, veganism is based on facts. Animal suffering is not some ethereal concept, it’s very real.
—Ari Solomon (September 17, 2009)

Cause you know, there’s NOTHING else to eat in the world other than animal products.
—Pao Aldana (September 16, 2009)

Veganism is the only moral choice if we truly want to reduce suffering, respect the moral standing of non-human animals, and ultimately reach total abolition of non-human animal use. There’s nothing hard about it, there’s nothing obsessive about it, and there’s nothing inconsistent about it.
—Corey Wrenn (September 6, 2009)

If inflicting terrible suffering and death on nonhuman animals who can feel pleasure, pain, and a wide range of emotions represents a real harm—and most people acknowledge, at some level, that it does—then no one should be offended by the suggestion that this harm must stop, just as other harms, once taken for granted as permissible, are now almost universally condemned.
—Sherry F. Colb (September 2, 2009)

Being a vegan means we break from a violent enculturation which leads us to believe animals, who are biologically no different from humans, are here for our use—that their existence is meant for our pleasure and their welfare is limited by our mandate to use them for our means. You don’t have to be crazy about animals or concerned about your health to go vegan, you just need a basic understanding and a will to change for the better. Go vegan.
—Adam Kochanowicz (June 28, 2009)

Why can we not see that cruelty to any being is unnacceptable? Then, once we realise this, why can we not see that we are being highly speciesist to assume we are superior thus giving us some inherent “right” to exploit another being for our personal gain? It is incredible how much this reminds me of sexism and racism and then that just reminds me of how backward as a species we really are.
—Amy Kauler (June 3, 2009)

What we need to do is to grow veganism by embracing it as a valid, acceptable, and logical choice in our everyday lives. We need to put forth positive examples of veganism, and to live as proud vegans. We should not run from our choices, or mask them in cutesy terms. Instead, we should live what we are proudly, and build a genuine movement of people who demand an end to the human exploitation of animals.
—Bob Torres (March 6, 2009)

Choosing to consume animal products is a choice to partake in the exploitation and intentional slaughter of sentient beings. Given our wide variety of food choices today, we can easily refuse to partake in such exploitation and slaughter. In many cases, such as this one, drawing lines can be very appropriate and strongly defended, especially when one acknowledges that the line drawn is only a minimum standard of decency, not a maximum standard of purity.
—Dan Cudahy (February 20, 2009)

People are able to do all kinds of horrible things, but the fact that they can do them should never be accepted as justification for doing them. The thing we must emphasize is that we can be vegan, and be healthy and live comfortable lives. That is what is important, so whether meat is healthy or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that it is healthy to be vegan, so we have an alternative to animal exploitation and are therefore are morally obligated to do that.
—Elizabeth Collins (February 3, 2009)

She dreams of her peaceful world, head snuggled under my arm, I dream of mine: a world where the wretched of the earth are free to live on their own terms—not ours—and die of their own failings—not ours. But it’s one and the same world—the world we carry imprinted in our sentient souls. The world we all need, seek, crave, bruise ourselves struggling to build, ache to have and to hold, and wither without. The world on the other side of the catastrophically unjust and unbalanced world that our species has created. We call it a vegan world. But it is not a new, separate, or special world. It is not a world apart. It’s just the world. This world. Restored.
—Joanna Lucas (October 20, 2008)

Do not let new welfarists [or anyone else] convince you that veganism is “hard” or that vegans think that they are “special”. Veganism is increasingly easy in the 21st century. What’s hard is being a nonhuman animal whose property status robs her of any meaningful moral consideration.
—Roger Yates (October 5, 2008)

Nonhumans are our slaves. We use them to satisfy our ends. Speciesism allows this by degrading nonhumans into the class of things and resources. Some members of this slave class, an infinitesimal proportion, are viewed affectionately and treated relatively well. Yet the fundamental relationship of subjugation and domination remains constant. Even the most doted upon slaves are still slaves.
—Nathan E. Schneider (September 6, 2008)

Animal industry will survive for as long as animals remain economically viable commodities. And animals will remain economically viable commodities for as long as industry can make profit from them. Therefore, if we are to eradicate animal exploitation, we must abolish animals’ commodity status.
—James Crump (June 25, 2008)

Strangely enough, if one is consistent in defending all animals, one is called an extremist. If, on the other hand, one is not morally consistent, and defends only some animals, one is criticized for being inconsistent. So apparently, the choice is between either being morally inconsistent or being seen as an “extremist”. I’d rather choose the latter, since justice requires moral consistency, and I am a strong believer in truth and justice.
—Kenneth Cassar (June 18, 2008)

If there is anything to get things moving concerning speciesism, it is pointing out the bizarre division between animals who are institutionally used as companions and therefore granted a higher value in being kept alive than in being killed, and those whose value is realized in their being transformed into what is considered food as quickly as possible. A division which Gary Francione has defined as moral schizophrenia.
—Karin Hilpisch (August 5, 2007)

In order to be lasting, actions intended to respect non-human animals must start with veganism and be motivated out of ethical respect-not trends or self-interest (for our health or for our benefiting from the beauty and biodiversity of nature). So, promoting an ethical vegan lifestyle in efficient and creative ways is the best and most practical way to live abolitionist theory.
—Jeff Perz (August, 2005)

There are several roads to veganism and many individual views of it, but veganism is one thing and one thing only—a way of living which avoids exploitation whether it be of our fellow men, the animal population, or the soil upon which we all rely for our very existence.
—Eva Batt (1964)

The unquestionable cruelty associated with the production of dairy produce has made it clear that lacto-vegetarianism is but a half-way house between flesh-eating and a truly humane, civilised diet, and we think, therefore, that during our life on earth we should try to evolve sufficiently to make the “full journey” [to veganism].
—Donald Watson (November, 1944)

Think, then Go Vegan!