This was the very reason I was skeptical when I heard that the show 30 Days was airing an episode in which a devoted hunter, named George, would spend a month with a family of vegans who work for PETA. My first thoughts were, “oh great not only are people going to think we are elitist, now the general public is going to think we all like running around naked or worse, protest in chicken suits”. To some extents I was correct in my prejudgments, there were some ridiculous nudity and the use a of giant chicken suit in front of a KFC. As anyone would have guessed, the hunter was very reluctant to opening his mind to any views out side of his own. He was very stuck in his speciest mind set, making comments that some animals are meant as food and others as pets. I think what proved to be very true throughout this episode is something we as activist should also grow from, video footage and speeches don’t always sink in. Seeing animal cruelty first hand is the quickest way to make an impact on some ones point of view. After all George was very annoyed when animal activist tried to shove their propaganda down his throat, but at the same time he was very moved when he saw how dairy cows were dumped on the side of the road. It made his skin crawl when he witnessed how the cows were loaded into the back of crammed trailers, and he felt like he made a difference when he rescued an abandoned calf from a factory farm. Most would say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but witnessing an event first hand is even more powerful.

I will admit it is very irritating that this show will probably just promote happy meat, especially considering that at the end of the experience George said he would not go vegan and would continue to hunt. It’s great that he has a better understanding of The Animal Rights Movement, but very unfortunate that it did not move him enough to change his daily life style. As activist we should be happy about at least two aspects of the episode, one being that the vegans chosen were not the usual nut jobs. The second is the vast amount of animal cruelty footage that was aired on national television, we have been trying to accomplish this for years. If anything, this episode will make people think about how our society abuse animals.

I don’t mean to attack the SPCA, I think the work and efforts they make are great. It’s just that a quick glance at Meet Your Meat is much more gruesome then many of the cases featured on the television show I was watching. I cannot wrap my mind around the concept of devoting ones life to helping one species of animals, while funding and condoning the suffering of another. The mentality of todays world truly is troubling, after all if dogs were put into the same conditions as pigs in the meat industry there would most definitely be an uprise.

My brother Paul, Shannon, and I were at a local tea house when we noticed a flier on the door. It had a picture of an obviously pure bred dog and text detailing about how the dog doesn’t match the owners apartment and she wants to get rid of it in so she can get a lap dog instead. The owner was asking for $125 down and was willing to take monthly payments until a full $500 was paid. This mentality was very disturbing to us, this is a living being we are talking about not a freaking car!

We took the liberty of taking the flier down and quickly throwing it in the trash. I swear every time I think there is hope I find my self reflecting on situations like this. I really do feel for animals put in situations like this, I really do.

We went to both San Antonio and Corpus Christi to celebrate even further. It started to become very irritating how isolated Shannon and I became from my family because of our veganism. They either dropped us off at a separate restaurant or we were forced to sit at a table that had NO vegan options.

Over all I enjoyed our trip, I just felt like even though we went to the restaurant I wanted there was still a major lack of consideration for my veganism.

At first I only had a general idea on how to care for a turtle, I originally purchased a 5.5 gallon aquarium because of my lack of my knowledge. I figured it was plenty of space since he is only an inch or so long right now. After reading and researching I quickly discovered that my tank was about half the size needed , not to mention an array of other supplies I was lacking. About $200 down the road, and we are all set. He now resides in a 10 gallon tank with an underwater heater, a filter, dock, uvb lamp, a basking lamp, and two thermometers. At first he was not very fond of his turtle dock and spent a great deal of time just chilling on top of the water heater, but over the past 24 hours or so he has really started warming up to it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this little guy and I will do what ever it takes to ensure his well being, but I never realized what a commitment turtles really are. From what I’ve read he will grow to be quite large over time and will out live all of my other companions if given the proper care and environment. I hope to invest in a much larger aquarium so I can get a little creative in creating an out of tank basking area for him. Any ways, this was my mini activism for the month, although I never thought I would be able to say that I rescued a turtle!

On one hand I do not wish to cause any hostility between family that has traveled over 1,000 miles to come celebrate, but at the same time I do not think it is right for them to “honor” my accomplishments by violating one of my highest morals. My family has suggested that we eat at a restaurant that can accommodate both parties. As previously stated, I’m not too fond of the idea of killing any beings in my honor. Plus I would like to eat something other then side dishes, salads, and Chinese food for my graduation, but none the less dining at a veg restaurant seems out of the question. The more deeply I reflect on it, the more I realize it might just be better for everyone if we didn’t celebrate my graduation at the dinner table.

This is indeed frustrating but I guess you have to pick your battles.

There are some ugly parts of it, obviously. There are also some spectacular parts of it. There are ugly parts of every sport. There are people who get paralyzed in football. This is a tragedy that happens in horse racing. It’s hard to put the blame any particular way. It’s part of horse racing.

There is a distinct difference between football accidents and the one that occurred earlier this week. A football player chooses to go out and play on the field. The horses in these races are slaves, forced to participate in events where they have nothing to gain. Horse racing is hardly what one would consider a sport, rather it is a repetitive act of unnecessary cruelty that needs to be put to a stop.

How can we make a difference?

• Do not attend horse races
• Inform others of the cruelties of the industry
• Protest horse races and the building of new tracks
• Write to Congress and tell them that horse racing must be banned