Veganuary: can you go meat-free for a month?
We’ve just finished one of the biggest meat-eating festivals on the calendar, with turkey and ham at the top of the list. And next , the biggest vegan event of the year is about to start. Veganuary is the annual vegan challenge, when participants are asked to give up all animal products for the entire month of January.
Veganism is a controversial topic, with billboards around Ireland referring to piglets and dairy calves as “babies”, tugging at people’s heart strings. Meanwhile traditional livestock farmers look on in bemusement: they care about their animals, and they believe that they have good lives, even if they end earlier than they would naturally.
The big argument is simple: it’s a debate between the vegan belief in “animal rights” and the belief of the rest of society in “animal welfare”.
“Animal rights”, broadly, is the concept that animals have rights, just like humans. Animal rights expresses the belief that animals ought to be allowed to live as they wish, freely, without restraint. Animal rights believers would suggest that animals should not be kept in captivity, should not be farmed, and they should not be exploited in any way. And most certainly, animals should not be killed, any more than humans should be killed at the behest of other humans. Animal rights activists are very likely to live vegan lifestyles. Some animal rights activists believe that it’s wrong to keep pets, and it’s certainly wrong to feed meat to pets.
“Animal welfare” is the less extreme version of caring about animals. The animal welfare view is that we humans have the responsibility to look after animals that we encounter, and that live under our care.
We have a duty to ensure that animals are kept free of fear and pain, and that they enjoy lives that are worth living. The animal welfare view believes that we should be allowed to keep animals in captivity, as long as we care for them properly. Animal welfarists believe that it is acceptable to eat meat, as long as the animals we are eating had good lives, and did not suffer fear, anxiety or pain during the slaughter process. Animal welfarists may be meat-eaters, or they could be vegetarian or even vegan.
It’s difficult to argue a case against animal welfare as the bare minimum for a civilised society. Science has proven, time and time again, that animals are sentient beings who share many emotions with humans, including fear and pain.. Indeed, the animal welfare view has been broadly accepted by our society as the civilised way of living.
The importance of animal welfare is summed up in the Animal Health and Welfare Act that was introduced in Ireland in 2014, enshrining the “five freedoms” as compulsory “rights” for animals under Irish law: freedom from thirst and hunger, from discomfort, from pain, injury and disease, freedom from fear and distress and freedom to express normal behaviours.
Under Irish law, and indeed under European law, it’s illegal to take these freedoms away from animals. People who break the law deserve to be prosecuted; animals deserve this protection. I know that the law is often not properly enforced in Ireland, and that penalties for contravening the law are often far too light. But the law is still there, and rather than changing the law, we just need to get our politicians to do more to ensure that it’s fully and strictly enforced.
Why do I believe that the animal welfare viewpoint is acceptable? It’s the simple fact that animals are different from humans.
Humans are aware of the present moment, but we also worry about the future,
and we reflect on the past. We make plans, which we put in place by taking carefully chosen actions. We care about humans and animals everywhere: when we hear news about serious problems in other countries, we feel compassion and we want to help.
Animals are also aware of the “here and now”, just like us. But as far as we can tell, they don’t think about the future, nor do they dwell in depth on the past. They not do reflect on philosophical concepts such as what happens after they die. They don’t plan so much for the future, living very much in their immediate surroundings. They don’t think about events happening far away, and they don’t get upset when they hear news of trouble in other countries.
I believe that animals need to be cared for, but I do not believe that they suffer because their freedom is taken away when they are kept as pets, or when they are kept as livestock in good farming conditions. When I see lambs playing in green fields, or cattle chewing the cud in sunny meadows, I don’t see animals suffering. I see animals enjoying life in the present moment.
I want animals to have great lives, and I don’t want to stop animals being kept as pets or livestock. There is just too much joy – for animals and for humans – to be gained from sharing our lives. We need to look after animals well, including ensuring that when they reach the end of their lives, they don’t suffer anxiety, fear or pain in abattoirs. The law needs to do a better job of ensuring this, including stopping no-stun slaughter which still happens far too often.
Stopping meat for a while is good for us, good for the environment, and it makes us reflect on all of what I have written. Why not give it a go this year?