Pretty & Vegan

New vegan learning the ropes. Recipes, articles and pics Celebrities and nerdery too

[thatveganwhiterose]

I’m curious

Reblog this if you are 30 years old or older.

[tiny-smallest]

Saw a stupid vegan earlier scolding people and telling them to stop eating honey so here’s your reminder to eat honey if you like it because that’ll help save bees.

[severelynerdysheep]

Nonononono…Absolutely it will not help the bees in any imaginable to way buy and consume honey. 

First, it’s important to recognize that commercial beekeeping does not only not help “save bees” but it actively harmful to them. When it comes to the commercial production of honey, commercial honeybees are actually threatening to wild bees and other insects vital to our environment as the species of bee used for honey production (Apis mellifera) are not even close to being endangered and the honey industry only helps increase numbers of these domestic honey bees, not wild bee populations. This is a big problem since these domestic bees exploited for honey are actually extremely threatening to wild bees populations, wild bees that are better pollinators and are crucial to the environment. One example of how domesticated honeybees threaten declining wild populations is the many diseases that have only ever existed in domestic bees which are also spreading to wild bee populations and placing them in very real danger. Basically, all commercial beekeepers who keep domestic honeybees are contributing to the decline of native pollinators, which are way more important than a single non-native species of bee to the environment So buying the honey from these domestic honeybees is actually doing the very opposite of helping to “save the bees”. The very opposite. Its actually supporting the decline of bees. 

If you do want to just look at the domestic honeybees used in commercial beekeeping, it’s important to note that commercial beekeeping which exploits bees for the honey they make for their food source is harmful to them. Standard practices in commercial beekeeping for honey include killing off entire hives before winter to reduce costs, artificial insemination, a process where which male bees are crushed and drained of their semen, which is then forcefully inserted into a queen bee, ripping the wings of queen bees to prevent them from flying away and taking all or most of the honeybees to produce, and replacing it with a sugar syrup substitute. This substitute given to replace the honey taken from hives is also thought to contribute to the development of disease in honeybees because it does not provide the proper nutrition and may produce a toxin under heat that kills the honeybees. Honey bees make exactly enough honey for themselves, and when they make extra it’s as storage food for winter periods where bees cannot otherwise find food easily. It’s their food source.

Bees do need help because of what we as a species have done to them and their habitat, but profiting from their honey is the opposite of the best way to save bees. Commercial honey production is a business, and like any business involving animal agriculture, profit usually comes before welfare. To actually help wild bee populations you can do things such as provide shelter for bees without taking their any of their honey (this honey is their food source alone). You can also plant and maintain bee-friendly flowers in your garden, which is one of the most effective ways to genuinely help bees, rather than just helping their “owners”. What will help” save bees” the most is ending the beekeeping of these domestic bees for their honey and actually looking after wild bee populations with actions such as those mentioned above. 

Some links: 

~  Managed honeybees linked to new diseases in wild bees, UK study shows

~ Honeybees Help Farmers, But They Don’t Help The Environment

~ Your worrying about the wrong bees

~  Honey bees are not endangered

~  Loss of wild pollinators serious threat to crop yields

~  Competition between honeybees (Apis mellifera) and native solitary bees in the Mediterranean region of Israel—Implications for conservation

~ Native bees are better pollinators than commercial honey bees

~ Wild bees are better for the environment than commercial honey bees

~ Commercial honeybees threaten wild bee populations

~ Commercial honeybees linked to spreading diseases to wild bees

~ How The Bees You Know are Killing the Ones You Don’t

~ Bees Gone Wild - Feral honeybees pose a danger to native bees and the ecosystems that depend on them~ 

~ Urban beekeeping is harming wild bees, says Cambridge University

[vegan-resolution]

If you care at all about bees and/or the environment, please please please read @severelynerdysheep 's explanation, don't tldr this, it's too important

[plain-flavoured-english]

Your purpose in life is not to love yourself but to love being yourself.

If you goal is to love yourself, then your focus is directed inward toward yourself, and you end up constantly watching yourself from the outside, disconnected, trying to summon the “correct” feelings towards yourself or fashion yourself into something you can approve of.

If your goal is to love being yourself, then your focus is directed outward towards life, on living and making decisions based on what brings you pleasure and fulfillment.

Be the subject, not the object. It doesn’t matter what you think of yourself. You are experiencing life. Life is not experiencing you.

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

Thank you this is the first post about self love that hasn’t made me want to throw things

[vgosts]

Visit Original Link

Illusion – VNV Nation Hellblade

[aphroditeslips]

“corporations are bad and make money off suffering!”  “meat is produced in a vacuum! why would i ever talk about meat and capitalism in the same sentence??? you’re obviously not woke enough to know about native pocs, let me tell you exactly what the meaning to all those native pocs lives are :) it’s meat :)”

[sonnendrache-deactivated2020030]

“If I personally can’t eat meat then the Natives will STARVE. All their hunters go to Tyson factories for wild game so we can’t shut them down ever! What do you mean we destroyed their ways of life to make room for our imported livestock??”

[vegan-resolution]

me, every month from age 12: ah goddamit

[veganhumor]

Everyone goes vegan to piss off Piers Morgan but then stays vegan afterwards challenge

Let’s go ladies 👏

[vegan-memes-ftw]

[sonnendrache-deactivated2020030]

Never listen to an omni who complains about vegans being any kind of negative way, it’s all projection. They’re the most sensitive whiners on the planet who can’t stand things not being all about them and their preferences 24/7.

[go-vegan-now]

[letstalkaboutfandomsbaby-main]

Ok but heres the thing, you can still use honeybees to help with agriculture without taking their honey.

“Oh but theyll swarm!” Yeah? That’s a good thing? When bees swarm they look for a new place to start a new hive and guess what? You can provide another hive for them and you’ll have more bees to pollinate crops. Hell you dont even need honeybees you can do this for your local bee populations but yall wont bc you’re so obsessed with animal products that you cant stop thinking about anyone but yourselves

[thatveganwhiterose]

Cool fun ways to reduce animal suffering if you can’t give up eating animal products for whatever reason.

Don’t wear fur, leather, wool, silk or other animal fibers (especially new stuff).

Don’t buy products tested on animals like make-up or toiletries.

Don’t buy products like make-up or toiletries that have animal products in them.

Don’t go to animal entertainment venues like zoos, animal circuses, Sea World, pony rides, etc.

Don’t donate to or support companies, charities, etc that exploit animals.

Adopt companion animals, do not get them from breeders or pet stores that utilize puppy mills. (This includes all animals, like rodents, fish, birds, etc.)

Talk to others about what is happening to animals and try to help them reduce their intake of animal products, or use of animals in general.

Try to reduce your animal product intake as much as realistically possible.

[realoutdoorcats]

[mostlyvoidpartiallydragons]

Speaking as someone whose parents and family members still refuse to be persuaded to keep their cats inside, if your cat dies as a result of being allowed to roam freely, whether hit by a car or killed by another animal or disease or whatever, that’s 100% on you. The owner of the cat is responsible for the death of that animal as surely as if they killed it themselves because it was completely preventable. This makes people upset to hear, but you can’t claim to love something in one breath and then completely abandon them to the many dangers of the world in the next. If you love your pet you do everything in your power to keep it safe.

[carsons-critters-deactivated202]

We need to keep saying “what happens to an outdoor cat is 110% the owners fault” until owners realize this. That person who hit the cat probably already felt horrible and if they couldn’t stop, they couldn’t stop. They didn’t mean “I was too busy, I couldn’t care to stop” they were literally saying “they could not physically stop the car in time to not hit the cat”. It was never their fault, and it wasn’t the cat’s either because they don’t know any better. It’s 110% the owners fault and I’m going to keep saying it until every horrible cat owner puts there cat back inside where it belongs.

Also think about your kids if you don’t care for the cat. How do you think that 9 year old, who didn’t know outdoor cats were bad, felt? They had no idea this would happen because of their ignorant parents. Their parents ended a life and damaged their child’s. This is a traumatizing event for a young child. And it’s so unfair for everyone involved… Except the parent obviously.

Just keep your damn cat inside or do an actual humane thing and just don’t fucking get one.

[boytoydiviision]

K all of this makes sense, but cats are meant to roam and play. You SHOULD let your cat outside, at least into the backyard if you feel safer that way, so they can get the excersize they need to live a happy life. Also, this play time ensures that the cat’s extra energy burns (mostly) off and they won’t destroy your belongings because they’re just so. bored. that they scratch things. Train it to walk on a leash if you have to, but let your cats outside.

[catsindoors]

Although contained outdoor time or walks on a leash are good enrichment they’re not a necessity, cats can thrive without ever being allowed outside in any capacity.

If your cat is bored and destructive inside it’s because you are not engaging in enough interactive play to keep them entertained, it’s because you are not providing them with enough environmental enrichment to meet their needs.

[catsindoors]

I should be going to sleep but I’m a sucker so I’m going to break this down instead.

Cats require exercise, this is integral to both their physical and emotional wellbeing. Permitting them unrestricted outdoor access can absolutely meet their exercise needs, but it is not safe to do so, and as their caregivers we must balance their health and their happiness instead of choosing one over the other.

The reason there’s this misconception of indoor cats being bored and depressed, which can lead to inactivity and weight gain, or destructive is because cat owners do not play with their cats enough.

Only 64% of the owners in this study played with their cats twice a day, of that a meager 25% reported 10 minute play sessions. It was also reported that the cats with 5 minute play sessions displayed fewer behavioral problems than those with 1 minute play sessions.

Engage your cat! There’s this huge misconception that cats are low maintenance pets, they’re aloof and independent and they’ll take care of themselves and that’s not true! They need more from than to leave out some toys and scoop their box.

Jane Ehrlich, from the cat division of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, recommends multiple 20 minute sessions of real interactive play each day. A key term here is real, behaviorist Pam-Johnson Bennett has an article on proper interactive play with cats, it’s important to be involved and to let them complete the sequence of the kill.

Environmental enrichment matters too! Outdoors your cat doesn’t just get exercise stalking prey [or running from loose dogs, fighting other cats, etc] you’ll often see them climbing trees, atop of fences, and so on.

They need this indoors too! A study at the Waltham Research Center found that after being provided with vertical territory unfriendly behavior increased when the vertical territory was removed, this may be a huge contributor to the problems some experience when trying to bring free-roaming cats indoors for good.

“”Not everyone can do this!”” Interactive play and environmental enrichment are the minimum standards of care for a cat, if you’re unable to meet the bare minimum standards of care for an animal you should not have that pet. You are not owed a cat, you are not entitled to one, if you’re unable to adequately provide for a cat than do not have a cat.

There are people who work full-time jobs, who work multiple jobs, who attend school, who live with mental and/or physical disabilities, who live in small apartments, who have a low income, etc. and are still able to meet their cats needs. I know because many of my followers fall into one, or more, of the aforementioned categories.

Cats are a menace to the environment. This pertains to the persons tags, the damage domestic cats do to the environment is so well documented I can’t believe people still try to deny it. Them again, there are still people who deny climate change, so I guess it isn’t too suprising.

There’s not only the issue of mortality due to predation, but cat saliva is full of pathogens that birds, reptiles, and rodents are sensitive to. Even if a captured prey-item is alert and unharmed to the untrained eye they may still die later as a result of being exposed to these pathogens, as a result of the stress of being predated upon, or as a result of internal trauma that can’t be detected without being seen by a wildlife veterinarian.

The mere presence of free-roaming cats is also known to have sub-lethal effects on bird populations, resulting in parents visiting the nest less frequently reducing the amount of feeding juveniles receive and leaving them exposed to other predators.

You’ll often hear outdoor cat proponents claim it’s feral cats that are an ecological disaster, not their beloved Fluffy, but I’ve broken down before how owned free-roaming cats are far from blameless.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[wolveria]

Yeah, see, here’s the problem with that statement. It doesn’t absolve us of moral responsibility for our purchases. People use this excuse (corporations are responsible for everything) when it comes to buying meat, but won’t do it for any other kind of ethical purchasing. Here’s an example:

If I said I no longer wanted to purchase child slavery-sourced chocolate, you wouldn’t say “Corporations are responsible for child slavery, not you, so why are you bothering.” Of course we’re responsible for what we purchase, especially if there is another option that is less harmful. Slavery-sourced chocolate vs. ethically-sourced chocolate. There is a difference. You make the choice 3+ times a day on what you are going to eat. You are making that decision, not a corporation. Eating animal products makes a huge, huge impact in terms of animals killed, water and land use, greenhouse gases, and oil used when compared to vegan diets. And that’s on an individual basis. When you consider the human population’s total combined impact when it comes to eating meat and other animal products, it’s devastating and blows all other polluting industries out of the water.

There is a massive difference between eating animals and eating beans/tofu/legumes/vegeables. To say otherwise is just trying to excuse our actions and place all the blame on corporations.

What we eat is one of the few ways we have direct impacts on how we shape the world. I would hope people would embrace that instead of trying to hide and make excuses for their decisions.

[theexoticvet-deactivated2022070]

Is it OK for owners to leave while vet puts the pet down?

A tweet from a pet owner about the emotional toll that euthanizing animals takes on veterinarians when owners leave the room has sparked a conversation.

You have probably read the tweet from a pet owner saying her vet told her that “… 90% of owners don’t actually want to be in the room when he injects them so the animal’s last moments are usually them frantically looking around for their owners &tbh that broke me” or another post allegedly written by a vet stating if you leave your pet during euthanasia you are a “coward”.

First of all, I cannot imagine any veterinarian saying any of those things. It is my belief that a lay person wrote those things and simply claimed the vet said them, but I could be wrong. Regardless, those posts are absolutely incorrect and those people should be ashamed of themselves. I also think that number is hugely exaggerated. Maybe 10% of owners don’t want to be present, and you know what, that is ok.

Euthanasia is a very personal thing and people have all kinds of reasons for not wanting to be present. Simply making the decision to have your pet put to sleep shows that you are compassionate and unselfish. Euthanasia is the ultimate act of love for your pet because it is completely about them- the owners get nothing out of it. The owners love their pet so much that they would rather be without them than keep them and have them suffer.

Your pet is not going to look around desperately for you or feel abandoned. Shame on those “vets” for putting out that misinformation and shame on them if they had a scared pet and they did nothing. Your vet can give your pet sedatives and other medications so they are relaxed and comfortable, I have NEVER allowed a pet to be scared or anxious before a euthanasia and the vast majority of vets will not either.

Please do not feel ashamed or upset if you choose not to be with your pet for euthanasia. I promise that the veterinarian and staff will comfort her just like she was their own and make sure she is relaxed and at peace throughout.

[mercyforanimals-deactivated2020]

Beautiful!! These rescued animals are finally getting to experience all the things that make life worth living!

[woifenwfowefinw-deactivated2018]

it’s fine I’m just sobbing

[pray-for-the-death-of-allah-blog]

I support Ethical meat producer, and honestly their a big difference in taste between a chicken who lived in an overcrowded indoor cage and chicken who had access to the outdoor, they have less stressed and it really affect the taste.

[blondegingersaxon]

Exactly. Small family farming on real land around real towns is the only way animals should be raised. The factory farm industry is sick and demented, not to mention completely unhealthy and diseased. 

[acti-veg]

Here is the thing though, 99.9 percent of chickens for meat and 97 percent of laying hens are factory farmed. This means that statistically, almost no one is sourcing their meat and eggs from the places you all seem to agree you should be. I have literally never met anyone who supports factory farming, and very few who will admit the meat they buy comes from intensive farms. Everyone claims this is where their animal products come from, but the figures are undeniable, meaning that most of you are lying. Even if you weren’t, we could not cater for anything close to our current consumption of meat and eggs with our available land and resources without factory farming. These facilities simply supply the demand which we as consumers continually create.

 Even on these local, small-scale farms, chickens are usually sent to slaughter when they’re barely adults, and even egg laying hens are killed at a fraction of their natural life expectancy. When they are killed, due to the legislation surrounding slaughter procedures and lack of any cost-effective alternative almost all farmers send their chickens to the exact same slaughterhouses which factory farmed animals die in. Abuse on small farms is still absolutely rife, if anything there is less inspection and less monitoring from outside agencies than there are in factory farms. That an animal is raised somewhere close to your house is no indication of how they have been treated, and certainly not how they have been slaughtered. 

The truth is that it doesn’t really matter regardless. That these animals suffer marginally less than their factory farmed counterparts does not justify the fact that we exploit and kill them for our taste preferences alone. Most of us agree that animals shouldn’t suffer unnecessarily, and that belief is the very foundation of the local farming movement, but for the vast majority of us, any suffering caused is unnecessary since we do not need to consume animals at all. We pretend that the only options are factory farmed or local, when a better third option clearly exists, to boycott all animal agriculture and live a vegan lifestyle. 

[blondegingersaxon]

I eat meat that is literally sourced from organic free range sources and is labeled in accordance with these terms by the USDA. Same for my eggs and dairy.

I’m no hypocrite however much you’d like me to be.

Oh btw, as someone who lives on a farm surrounded by free range, organic black angus pastures, these animals live IMEASURABLY happier and healthier lives than their counterparts in Iowa and Alberta on feed lots filled with manure 3ft deep, eating GMO antibiotic oats all day just so they’ll have a 75% survival rate.

Being anti local is literally being anti health, anti animal, anti farmer, and anti traditional.

[acti-veg]

I’m really not trying to be rude to you here, but accusing a vegan of being “anti-animal” for advocating that we stop slaughtering animals rather than raising them slightly better before we kill them honestly sounds like a joke. Do you know what the USDA requirements actually are for free range and organic?

Free range: “ Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.” That’s it. Access to the outdoors, doesn’t have to be all year round, doesn’t have to be constant, and farms are labelling free range when it’s literally just a 5 x 5 patch of dirt. I appreciate that this isn’t the case everywhere, and by the sounds of it not where you live, but the idea that free range is an assurance of welfare is quite frankly laughable. It’s why Mcdonald’s can still call their eggs free range despite the fact that their chickens are raised in giant warehouses.

Organic: These requirements are a little more robust, they place stipulations on access to outdoors as well as bedding, light etc. but most of tthe regulations are concerning what animals are fed and which drugs are/aren’t allowed. Like free range, it doesn’t specify space per animal, numbers of animals in one facility, it doesn’t limit practices like de-beaking, tail docking or chick culling, and places no requirements whatsoever on slaughter. 

Even if what you say is 100% true, you never eat animal products unless you know exactly where they’re from, you always ask about sourcing at every restaurant you ever visit, you never order fast food or visit places fast food restaurants and you’ve personally seen conditions on all of the farms you get your animal products from, that would still in no way justify exploiting and slaughtering an animal just because you like the way they taste. There is no humane way to exploit and kill an animal who does not want to die.

Of course local, small scale farming is usually better than factory farming, but the fact that it is less horrific than the alternative doesn’t make it ethical. If we have three options, where the the first option is to raise an animal in disgusting conditions then slit their throat, the second option is to raise them in better conditions then slit their throat, and the third is to not kill them at all, why on earth would we choose either of the first two? If we can live a lifestyle which doesn’t unnecessarily exploit and kill animals, then why wouldn’t we? 

[vegannerdgirl]

“HUMANE” ANIMAL EXPLOITATION IS AN OXYMORON. IT IS INHUMANE TO PAY FOR ANIMAL SLAUGHTER BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO EAT PASTA, FRUITS, VEGETABLES, GRAINS, NUTS, SEEDS, LEGUMES-

[vegan-revolution-now]