A One-Fanged Feline Helps Tell A Vegan Story

Before I can continue with the most special part of my last post I must introduce you to Teco, AKA Cinderella, Thumbelina, Scamper, Princess, and Muffin-Girl. She was found eleven years ago in a cardboard box at a K-mart parking lot.  She was such a tiny squirt that my husband brought her home in his shirt pocket. In an instant she made our family complete. 

Teco grew to be an amazing being. As perfect a feline as there ever was. She spends lots of time in two different screened in rooms so she manages to frequently catch wayward lizards. You can always tell when she does because she'll bring him into the house and loudly announce her "prize". This early warning signal has managed to spare most of them... (minus a tail or two). Is she "sweet enough" to do this deliberately? I don't know. But if you knew her, you'd almost say it was true.

She's incredibly affectionate and doesn't mind giving her dog or human family a good tongue- licking bath! Oh... And did I tell you that she coos and has a singing language too? 

We love Teco! 

You can imagine how frightened we were when we thought that one of her upper fangs was infected! She never had the best teeth... But this time her gums were swollen and we worried about how to have the root of the (missing?) tooth removed. Thinking the worst we carried her to our vet. And here comes the bonus to my story.  

For the last dozen years Mitsie Vargas at Orchid Springs has been our vet. Throughout the years Mitsie has taken excellent care of my companions and was also a tower of support when I had to say good bye to some of them. Mitsie is a woman of dedicated compassion. She started out caring for animals when her neighbors brought their sick or injured pets to her for treatment. In this community as well, you can't find a person who doesn't have the highest confidence in her and her staff. And so we took our Teco-Girl to get the best care we knew of.

In a matter of a few minutes into the exam my husband and I were told that Teco's tooth had already fallen out! Completely! With some minor antibiotics the swelling would subside and the worst of any discomfort Teco had was already over! Yippee! What a relief!

But what could be better than this? The good doctor was soon to tell!

More good news? What could it be? 

The whole Vargas family is now vegan! You could have knocked me over with a whisker!

This has been a desire of mine for the longest time: To have one of the most compassionate people I know see the full picture. I never could understand how caring people (especially  veterinarians) didn't get what I thought was so obvious. But a Vegan Outreach pamphlet and a screening of Forks Over Knives landed Mitsie to the better side of her judgments.  

Upon hearing the good news I embraced her in thanks and in celebration. With mutual tears in our eyes she said, "Now I know I am really living as cruelty-free as possible".  Right you are Doc. Right you are! ;)

So this dear readers is the best of my super special compilation of vegan stories. ;)

I hope it uplifted and renewed your hope that open minds can meet the challenges of change and ethical growth. 

I also hope your own vet is inspired to compassion as well.

Teco thinks that would be a purr-fect ending too! 

Read more...

An Xtra-Xtra LARGE Collection of Vegan Stories

As I'll explain this post is a matter of housekeeping...

Initially I wanted this blog to be a collection of daily (or weekly) posts about new people who told their stories of awakening... My thought was that by writing the Provoked blog as well... what more could there be to tell?

Well here on Once Upon a Vegan, there's never been an absence of news or of personal insights, but rather the time and the figuring of what order to prioritize what in. Throw in a bit of procrastination and my "Stories" drafts folder was over-flowing. So now I'll pass them along as I originally intended to do.

The good news is that there's so many coming-out-vegan pieces that I'd never catch up unless it was by posting this "multi"-one all in one go. So here it is!

There's videos and essays - Some came to be vegan for health or the environment... Many in hopes of living the best ethical life they could in their treatment towards nonhumans. There's some names you might already know and some you may never forget... 

Thanks for bearing with me as I do some spring-cleaning as I pass on these stories that deserve to be repeated.

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“I was watching Animals Australia’s exposure of live export on television and thought, ‘I can’t watch this.’ I wanted to block my ears and change the channel, then I realised I had to witness this, no matter how much it traumatised me personally. I knew I had to become part of this and acknowledge fully the cruelty that happens to billions of animals all over the world, every second. I was wearing leather shoes which I looked at and felt ill that I was wearing a by-product of the cruelty. I cried for days.


“I realised it was time to become vegan and to commit truly to animal welfare. My life then shifted in a beautiful way. I stepped into what I believe in wholeheartedly – that my lifestyle would not support animal cruelty – and hopefully I can encourage others how easy it is to not use animal products.”
Rach Moran





More on Youtube:

Get Real with Rory Freedman and more Skinny Bitch stories:
Cara
Lisa Tabari
Owen
Kristina Besse
Todd Moore




Don Johnson - Inspired by Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer has been vegetarian since 1963, and vegan since 1991
An interview with José González of Animals Australia
Sarah Taylor creator of the popular blog “The Vegan Next Door”, and the author of “Vegan in 30 Days”
Why I Transitioned to A Meat Free Diet and Became A Vegan
Gratex - Became friends with a bird outside his apartment window and questioned his relationship with all other creatures.
Peysi - An 11 year old girl thanks Gary Yourofsky for his speech that openned her eyes to the plight of nonhumans.
Djehuty Ma'at-Ra - In 1995 adopted a "plant based diet" for the health benefits
Brain Boy - Sarcastically relays the "Dangers of being vegan"

And Tim Shieff says "I realized it was pleasure without conscience." He passionately covers all the issues!

Rose Elisabeth - After watching Earthlings wonder's how and why people can't sympathize with the animals. 
Hoang Mai is an NDP Member of Parliament for Brossard--La Prairie. "I realised we don't need to make animals suffer."
Why I am Vegan
Jennifer made the connection through a report on eating dogs in Asia. She says "reason allows no contradiction".
Paulina Logan - Sings her musical vegan story
Ari Evergreen - Always thought of herself as an animal lover... 
Mayim Bialik
Becoming a Vegetarian - From Writer/Director of NextNik

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Rebecca Stucki - Learned of "The realities of what animal production entails — the deaths, the “culling,” the breaking up of the animals’ social and familial structures, and most of all, the personalities and individuality of the so-called “farm” animals that most people haven’t experienced or even considered." 

Dan Barton was inspired to go vegan after reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

77 year old body builder Jim Morris says animals should have the "freedom to live in its natural environment, with its own kind, making its own decisions. I believe the law should prohibit the enslavement of all non-human species for any purpose whatever." 

Dianne "Veggiegirl" Wenz:
When I fully accepted that “treatment” is not the issue, but using animals for our gain IS the issue, I knew I had to go vegan.  It was not a choice anymore.  It was a duty.  A moral obligation.  I was afraid of how my husband and family would react, but that didn’t matter anymore.  I could no longer wait until everyone around me changed, because if I did that it would never happen.  I had to be the one to do what I knew was right, no matter what.  It scared the hell out of me, but i did it.

Freeheel Vegan says "When I fully accepted that “treatment” is not the issue, but using animals for our gain IS the issue, I knew I had to go vegan.  It was not a choice anymore.  It was a duty.  A moral obligation." 

Andrew Kirschner  realized the absurdity at a fund raising event to help cats and dogs when "veal" and chickens were served on the buffet. 

Natalie Cunningham: "I stumbled across an article about veganism purely by chance. I cannot even remember which one it was or where it was from but it was detailed enough to make me realise that I was feeling the same grief that the baby cow feels when he is taken away from his mummy, my mother felt the same fear on her road to death that the beef cattle feel as they approached the slaughterhouse – I realised that we are all the same. Another neural pathway creation!"

A collection of Vegan Conversions at Eating Plants

Daria Zeoli : "Being vegan is not about being radical – it is about being ethical." 

Seth Falcon - From an L.A. Youth publications says his aunt's veganism changed his entire family!

Karen Interlandi - "I had been told by a dog trainer a few years back not to attribute human emotions onto animals. I had agreed to this at the time, but then I started to think, well, why can’t animals experience the same range of emotions and feelings that we have? Do humans have exclusive rights to being happy or sad, or the feeling of loss or grief? Can anyone explain the pure joy that your dog displays when you they greet you at the front door as anything other than love?

That lead to me realising that every piece of meat that I ate was at some stage an animal’s baby.  I suddenly didn’t want to eat someone’s babies anymore."   

Lisa Hewus and her reaction to seeing the film Earthlings

Claire Crossan

Roger Yates - Owner of On Non-Human Relations, and vegan since 1979

Elizabeth Reflects on Her 4-H Experience and Her Path to Becoming Vegan

5 reasons I wish I’d gone vegan sooner.

A day in the slaughterhouse - That's why I became vegetarian (warning graphic images)
at the age of 38, I witnessed a truckload of chickens that were in such horrific conditions that I was completely shaken to my core. At that moment I knew I would never eat sentient animals again. Networking on Facebook educated me to the violence in the egg and diary industries. Ethically, I knew I had to give up some old favorites like ice cream and milk chocolate. Today I do not miss those foods at all. There are great alternatives and like I like to say, nothing tastes as good as being vegan feels.

Jo-Anne McArthur / The Ghosts In Our Machine: Why I Became Vegan

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE THE WORLD: WHY I BECAME VEGETARIAN
AT AGE 86 Sherrey Reim Glickman

Losing My Leg To Cancer Inspired Me To Become A Voice For Farm Animals Jenny Brown

A collection of Stories from Vegan Mainstream

Jersey City Vegan - Vegan Like Me Series

Ready for Plan B - Vegan Testamonials

This Dish is Veg:
Stephanie
Shana Kurz
Alexandra
Lisa Dawn
Samantha
Leolin
Ashley Kiefer
Lindsay Geller
Julia
Joanna Tenderro
Andee Bingham
Neva Davis
Peter
Catherine Mullins
Erin Fergus

From The Veg Monologues Vegans Telling Their Stories:
Jennifer’s Story:I cried a lot that night. I knew what I had to do. I had to give up eating animals. It was the only possible choice I could make now that I allowed myself to see the truth of the cruelty. 
Cassie’s Story:We then heard a gun shot. We went back inside and the cow was strung up by the neck and slit from end to end . . . my soul was ripped apart that day.
Veronique’s Story:When I was a kid, my dad kept bunnies in the backyard who I used to feed through their cages. It never occurred to me that they were the ones I ended up eating. 
Kathy Foster’s Story:I went to sleep that night and woke up a vegan. 

Veg Vids Testimonials

The New Vegan Age

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Well those are the stories I've accumulated and am now happy to pass on. Certainly there are enough reasons to authenticate the very valid choice ethical people are making.

But wait! There is one more very special story I'm saving for a post all it's own. Please come back... It is my favorite story to tell! ;)

Read more...

Of Easter Rabbits and Personal Tribunals

This photo was taken almost 4 decades ago and represents for me, a year of firsts.  I had my first full time job. First car. First apartment. First serious relationship. And my first callous treatment to another living being.

I am pictured holding Metuse my first (and only) rabbit "pet". He was given to me by my partner at the time on Easter morning. I was in love the first moment I laid eyes on him! He wasn't young... But I never asked where he came from. Never thought of what home or circumstances he might be missing... All I knew was that he was mine to adore from then on!

We took Metuse everywhere we could reasonably allow for his freedom. He especially loved camping adventures where he'd be on grass for days at a time.  And at home he was a perfect room mate. He had the run of the house at all times. I never found any object chewed or clawed on. And he always used his little box for his rabbit "deposits". 

He must have loved me too - Each time I came home from work or errands he'd be at the door to greet me. He followed me from room to room and stayed at my feet when I settled down. He adored being petted and would fall asleep in the hollow of my lap. Everything was safe in our world...

But as youth often does - It has changes and is filled with disruptions... My 2 year relationship was ending and I made hasty arrangements to move into my second apartment - Leaving my sweet Metuse behind. So worried with my own life I didn't look back to claim him till weeks passed and by then he had been "given away". To this day I kick myself for letting my poor little love face yet another unknown. How helpless it must be to be moved about without even knowing where or why or... Well, I don't pretend to know what a nonhuman must think when they are shuffled or shoved into the unfamiliar. Or how they grieve when they miss their friends... But it can't be good. :(

I wish I could say that the fate I left my dear Metuse in was the last of my thoughtlessness regarding the nonhumans in my care - But to my shame it's not.  As time allows and as I have the courage to tell - There's more...

For now I just wanted this to be an open apology to one of the most precious beings there ever was. I'm sorry Metuse that once I was so young and dumb and insensitive to your needs. In hindsight I should have left everything else behind and taken only you. To You my sweet friend: Stretching way back to our distant lives - to the comforts of home, secure surroundings and soft caresses - Please forgive me for having denied you these. You are always in my heart. 

To those reading who might be moved by my story - Adopt your sweet rabbit and give him/her the best forever home you can. Remember their little world is totally dependent on you - Make it a considerate and generous one.

Happy Easter to all the great bunnies and bunny lovers in the world! 

Read more...

Vegans are Conscientious Objectors to Cruelty

At the onset of WWII Sir Nicholas Winton sought registration as a conscientious objector. In 1940 his service changed to the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force. He was initially an airman, rising to sergeant, then commissioned as an acting pilot. Later he was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant.

In 1988 his wife Grete found a detailed scrapbook in the attic that detailed his benevolent private acts of kindness. He had organised the rescue and safe passage to 669 mostly Jewish Czechoslovakian children destined for the Nazi death camps in an operation known as the Czech Kindertransport. This touching video is the from the 1988 BBC Program "That's Life". 

Go ahead... You tell me how one person can't make a difference! Just go ahead!

So - You're only one person! But what you do matters! It matters to all others who could be affected by your choices; By your kindness.

Be a conscientious objector in the holocaust against animals... Live compassionately.

Read more...