Excerpt from the essay: “Vegeveganism: A Call for Unity of the Animal Rights World.”
by Mike Jaynes

As an animal ethicist, I feel it is our duty to embrace the people who have not yet adopted animal kindness as a central tenant in their lives. I understand the slaughterhouse workers who take joy in torturing animals enrage us and inspire the darkest thoughts within us, but it is our responsibility to utilize our reason and self control to help these animals. The burdens of the most intelligent species on Earth are heavy indeed. Also, as many people have written, this powerful rhetoric leads to negative feelings about AR in the outside world. I would like to take this closer and examine the divisions within the AR world this rhetorical posturing creates.

And divisions do exist within the AR world. Recently, on a fairly well known and successful AR website, a vegan posted “if you are only a vegetarian, don’t you dare try to say you are for animal rights.” This disturbed me greatly, and I began contemplating a more unified AR front. At this point it is valid to assert I am collecting all animal-centric actions and philosophies together. From animal welfarists to vegan abolitionists, I am proposing the inclusion of all levels of consciousness into the umbrella term of “Animal Rights.”) Vegeveganism is the collective term for animalcentric eating habits. While hardly a panacea for the question of how to end animal suffering, I believe tolerance of all levels of animal consciousness should be increased.

For example, I have four companion animals who were rescued from various situations and that disqualifies me as a true animal rights activist to many people. I am also a vegetarian and not a vegan; again, this puts many AR people off. The alleviation of animal suffering is a great concern of mine and with all the pressures against them, all ARAs should come together and support one another. If a meat eater is adamantly against the heavily anachronistic fur trade, I am delighted and want badly to be their friend! If someone who will not boycott certain pharmaceuticals on account of vivisectionist practices has given up beef, chicken, and pork, I am ecstatic. Vegans should not harass Vegetarians who should not harass Pescatarians. Lacto-Ovos should not attack Polloterians, and our focus should be on educating the outside world in lieu of petty squabbling within. All of us are in a continual battle for self betterment, and to announce one’s enlightenment while claiming moral superiority over a lesser committed animalcentric human is logically self defeating and hurts the cause, hurts the animals. Any reduction in the amounts of animal consumption are victories, and perhaps we will one day live in a meatless, dairy less, vivisectionist free world. However, these are not those days, and any steps toward a world that is compassionate to animals should be applauded. The abuse of companion animals near my part of the world in southeast United States is a current concern of mine, and advocating for these animals elicits violently negative reactions from their “owners.” The AR world should band together and concentrate on educating those who tether dogs to chains to live their existence in small circumferences in the elements instead of bitterly dividing the AR world according to specialties. For God’s sake, that sounds far too reminiscent of academia, the world in which I work as a lecturer in English and the humanities. And that is the last place after which we should model ourselves, in my not so humble opinion.

Vegeveganism is a call for the unification of all AR minded people. Any thought or action that is animalcentric is a victory and should be treated as such. Much is currently being said of the great divide within the Democratic Party. Worrying about the unified Republican front, many Democrats feel the abrupt divisiveness currently in play is weakening the party’s chances at installing the next President. Similarly, AR groups should be concerned about the growing divide between different specialties. Presently, I am most concerned with the eradication of the fur trade. However, this doesn’t mean I wish to persuade the anti circus activists to drop their cause and fight against fur. Antivivisectionists, vegan abolitionists, anti furriers, investigators into factory farms and the remainder of AR specialists should realize we are working together for an animal friendlier world. It seems impossible our country will ever completely abandon the eating of meat and the enslavement of animals; however, it is very possible we could work together in a unified professional front to reduce the number of these horrendous deaths, improve our public image, and add ethos to our cause. And then we all could sleep a little better at night. Maybe.