Although I always believed that I loved animals, for a long time I lived a life of ignorance and contradiction like most people. I was a vegetarian and understood animal rights at a some level, but it was veganism that truly opened my eyes. Once I embraced it, I became aware of all forms of oppression and exploitation. I began to question societal norms and traditions that I took for granted and believed were normal. I began to comprehend the scale at which animal exploitation takes place and how completely unnecessary it is. I began to recognize the different institutions of animal exploitation, how normal suffering and death is to many people, and the insignificance of sentient lives.
The first time I witnessed an institution of exploitation first-hand after turning vegan, and after I was fully aware of the moral issues of animal exploitation, was during a visit to a fur farm. A few fur farms in Finland decided to have an open day to allow people to have a look at how they work. Fur farming, as an industry, has a bad reputation with the public. Although the enslavement and death of a select few species of domestic animals is considered normal, most people find it hard to accept cruelty towards other animals, especially the ones that are wild. That’s why the fur industry works hard to convince people that their industry is no different from meat and dairy. The open day was obviously an attempt to get public acceptance.
The farm had about 5-6 long wooden shacks with cages on both sides running along its entire length. It had about 3500 foxes and about 90% of them were to be slaughtered and the remaining were kept for breeding the next batch of foxes for next year. We were led through the long rows of cages. There were two foxes in each cage, which were about 1 meter square in area. They had no solid floors and the foxes had to sleep, move about and practically live their whole lives on a wire mesh. The cages were dirty, the smell was repulsive, but what really got my attention was the absolute terror that these animals displayed.
They were terrified of us, some shivering and some trying pathetically to get away. These were pups, just a few months old, in a completely artificial environment that was nowhere close to their natural habitat. All their natural instincts were denied to them. These were essentially wild foxes and a century of captive breeding had in no way domesticated them. They were designed by millions of years of evolution to run free in wide open spaces, and yet here they were, locked in metal cages, cramped together with thousands of others. Their feet had never touched solid ground and their nails were painfully long due to lack of friction. Most of the foxes were obese. They were intentionally fed high-calorie food with added chemicals, vitamins and antibiotics to get them fat. This was to ensure a higher fur yield and a higher profit. The “farmers” evidently had no emotional connection with the animals. The foxes were seen as objects that the workers tended to ensure a good harvest.
A large percentage of fur produced in Finland is exported, so these industries bring a lot of money into the country, and in turn they are provided security, subsidies and support. In a country where it’s a criminal offence to lock cats and dogs in cages, an industry that enslaves and slaughters millions of foxes, minks and other small mammals is deemed legitimate. I had never felt as certain about veganism and animal rights as I did that day. Nothing about this industry is right. Nothing about any industry that exploits and enslaves innocent beings for profit can be right. The experience of visiting a fur farm and witnessing the horror that these animals went through first hand gave me a sense of certainty that the values and ethics of veganism can never be wrong.
Indeed fur farming is no different than the meat, dairy, leather and other animal exploitation industries. They receive a little more attention due to the nature of the animals used, and the fact that their product is one of luxury and cannot be defined as necessary. All industries that are based on the abuse of sentient beings for our benefit are equally wrong and can never be morally justified.
Most people are compassionate by default and believe that causing unnecessary pain and suffering to innocent beings is wrong. How then can we work to ensure that they make this connection? How many people will it take to really put an end to fur farms, slaughter houses, circuses and all the other animal exploitation industries for good? The answer is, it will take us all.
Donald Watson, the person who first coined the term “Vegan” defined it as an anti-oppression politics. It is an active resistance movement with the clear goal of ending all forms of oppression. We have the responsibility of knowledge. We are obligated to take action. Unlike human slavery and the oppression of women, animals cannot fight for themselves. We have to fight for their freedom. We have to be their voice.
Since my visit to the fur farm, my animal activism has changed. There is a greater sense of urgency and I realize that it’s vital for the issue to stay alive in the minds of every human every day. There is no excuse to allow this holocaust to continue. I, along with the animal rights group I volunteer for, have stepped up our campaigning this year. We realize the importance of communicating effectively and the fact that we need to reach out to large masses. On Fur Free Friday, we had the biggest demonstration we have had in all the years. Here is a link to our website, Finnish – www.animalia.fi; English – http://www.animaliainternational.com/
It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed when I consider the level of suffering and death on the planet, so I find it important to connect with other activists and those that believe in a compassionate vegan world. Change will take as long as we want it to take.
Siddharth Iyer is 23 years old and from Bangalore, India. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Helsinki, Finland. He has been a vegetarian all his life and became vegan 7 months ago. Siddharth volunteers at an Animal rights group in Finland called Animalia.
