Do It!

Thisi a very very worthy cause!

Etsy Loves

I just love etsy! When I used to do a boring old admin job, I used to waste way too much time looking through all the pretty listings. These are a few of my favourites at the moment:

If only these boots were two sizes bigger!

I love stackable rings! And these ones are my favourite colours!

This handmade peter pan collar dress!

 

This vintage peter pan collar dress!

And this super lovely embroidered top from here, which I just bought! I can’t wait for it to arrive!

live exports

While there has been no solution to the live exports debate, media coverage seems to have died down a bit recently. Articles which are being published seem to mainly focus on the situation for farmers and people who work in the industry.

If anything, I’ve been kind of surprised by the public outcry over the Four Corners footage. 90% of Australians eat meat. I’ve always kind of imagined that people just don’t really think animals have feelings, or if they do, they just don’t care. The public response was amazing. I think it’s a really great sign and it gives me hope for animal rights in the future. I didn’t actually see the program. I knew it was on, but I chose not to watch it. I guess I didn’t really see the point – it’s a subject I already feel strongly about and would only get upset by.

Personally, I think the immediate suspension of live exports was the right step to take. Sure it’s not particularly rational or well thought out, but it sends such a clear and direct message that unnecessary animal cruelty is not okay. I just hope it’s a serious sign of a commitment to end the cruelty to Australian exported animals, not just a way to quieten down an issue until it’s forgotten by the general public.

I think, if anything, it’s the response to the suspension that has upset me most. Immediately, media started focusing on the conditions for cattle being held in pens, at the docks, with nowhere to go. It was depicted as being some kind of act of cruelty that cows were being kept in terrible conditions, without adequate water, feed or room to move. Of course it is cruel and horrible, but to suggest that such a situation is worse than being kept in similar conditions while being exported, and then tortured to death, is ridiculous.

We soon started hearing about the farmers and their families who would be affected by a ban on live exports. Of course some people will suffer financially from such a ban and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But, I do think that when you breed and raise animals, you have a kind of duty of care for their wellbeing. The general response seems to have been, “we didn’t know this was happening”. I’m sure they didn’t know, but surely it wouldn’t have been too hard to find out that Indonesia just doesn’t have laws regarding animal cruelty. I feel like it should have been their responsibility to find out what happened to their animals after they were loaded onto boats. As far as I’m aware, the majority of animals go to markets, where they can be bought either privately, or by an abattoir. In a country without laws to protect animal rights, this in itself is irresponsible.

I know live exports is a huge industry. It’s worth about $1.8 billion to the Australian economy. But I think that this issue is much more important than that. If Australia believes that the economy is more important than ending unnecessary, repeated pain and suffering, I think it’s time we reassessed our priorities.

vegan?

A few days ago, I was sitting, having lunch, with a girl from my art history class. She is a bit of a fundamentalist vegan. She knew I was a vegan too. She complemented me on my boots, saying how hard it is to find nice fake leather shoes. I was like “ooh thankyou. I know, it’s impossible. These are actually leather, I bought them in an op-shop.” She looked aghast. “Oh I thought you were a vegan,” she said. “Well I eat a vegan diet, but I do wear wool and leather if I buy them second hand.” She clearly didn’t agree.

I’ve always been a bit hesitant to call myself a vegan. I tend to say things such as “I’m on a vegan diet,” or “oh I don’t eat eggs or dairy.” But recently, I’ve just started saying “vegan” because it’s so much easier. I’ve been a vegetarian all my life, but for the last year or so, I very, very rarely ate eggs or dairy. I think I was just too scared to label myself.

 

My thirteen-year-old sister doesn’t eat meat, dairy or honey. She will, however, eat the eggs that some from our chooks. Our chickens are ex-battery hens. My mum got them from a battery farm that will let people take their hens when they are considered too old. If someone doesn’t adopt them, they are killed. So my mum go these yucky, featherless chickens with their beaks chopped and their feathers clipped a few years ago. While they were considered too old to lay eggs then, three years later, they are the happiest, healthiest chickens I ever saw and each lay an egg every day. Siena knows that they have a good life, and if it wasn’t for us they would have been killed, so she doesn’t have a problem with eating their eggs.

I think that it is more important that we tailor our diets and lifestyles around our individual beliefs, rather than adhering to a strict vegan lifestyle. I don’t want to support the leather or wool industry, so I would never buy new wool or leather. But If my money is going to charity, and I am making use of something that someone else is throwing away, I think that it is better to buy second hand leather than new plastic boots.

Sally, xxo