I’ve just seen something that has left me feeling very upset and shaky

About ten years ago I saw some 'secret' filming of a UK abattoir before the days of compulsory CCTV, I stopped eating meat that day.

I then saw a documentary about leather goods, a group of young people were sent to Africa to work in a factory. I used to buy leather goods as I thought it was all a by product of the food industry, but so much of it isn't - the documentary showed appalling cruelty to animals, so someone can have a handbag. I source alternatives wherever possible.

Surely Yulin has not been allowed to continue their barbaric practices. I too thought it had been banned.

I have never been able to get a first image of Yulin out of my mind. It was extremely upsetting viewing.

Although I know what animals do to survive and it is all part of nature, I find I can no longer watch Attenborough’s nature programmes, viewing the ‘kill’.

I don’t know any vegetarians Chewy or if they are, they haven’t bothered to mention it. ?‍♀️ Thanks for the tip though. ?

I’m exactly like that it makes my blood boil and breaks my heart. The images are disturbing I can’t watch without feeling utter sadness. I do sign the petitions I do donate but nothing seems good enough to stop all the cruelty to these beautiful creatures.

I love eating meat - in fact I enjoy most food. I will only eat meat that has come from reputable butchers/farm shops,etc. That way I know the animals have been kept well and killed humanely.

Why are vegans so smug? Is there nothing they do that might harm the planet?

We were driving down to see DD and.grandson on Wednesday and passed that horsebox accident on the M27 which you may.have read about. The image I can’t get out of my mind is the horse hanging from a sling crane (I think that’s what they’re called). It looked so dead, then I read that both horses had been sedated, then I read that one of the horses had died. That’s the image I can’t get out of my mind, and I’m not even a horsy person.

Hopefully it will make you think about what you are eating. We can survive easily without meat and fish. I am an extremely fit and healthy 70 year old and have not eaten either for 42 years. We do not need to kill to live....simple

I don’t consider myself smug . I am a vegan as I hate animal cruelty so try to do the least harm possible. I know being in the 21st century anything I consume will have an environmental impact so I would try to minimise that impact that doesn’t mean no harm is ever done. Why do you expect perfection? Surely anyone who tries to minimise harm should be at least tolerated rather than abused.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before we had a vegan post, totally agree with Corisanda and MerylStreep posts, truly sad to have seen the posts on Twitter regarding yulin festival totally heartbreaking! And jaxjackys post, I’m glad you pointed that out elderlyperson that we are free to make our choices and our family do thank you, we are all meat eaters, and all of us have inner peace too

I think I know the images referred to and they are nightmarish. I wouldn't care to look at them again but I am aware of the terrible cruelty involved. I despair of humankind sometimes - human beings have at times been treated to same level of refined torture. I don't know what the answer is ?

I try to avoid buying anything from China but when I opened the lateral flow test kit out popped a label ‘made in China’ I couldn’t believe it. The way they treat those poor dogs and cats is deeply disturbing I find it hard to think any human being could inflict such pain and torture on defenceless animals. It makes my blood boil ?! I haven’t seen the recent video (thankfully) but did see one a few years ago. I cried for days and like the OP could not get it out of my head. It is heartbreaking I too thought this was now banned, how could any government allow this to happen? ?

Whitewavemark 2, I don't know how badly you are affected, but if you cannot get the horrible pictures out of your head it might be worth asking your GP for advice about how to get some CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). You can be taught simple strategies on how to manage unwanted pictures/thoughts/behaviours.

You can get CBT online and a GP recommended therapist should be fine.

In the future, if you ever come across anything like that again, you would be better at handling it.

I had never heard of this so-called 'festival', it sounds absolutely horrific.

"Trolling through Twitter" ?

peaseblossom there is also the transportation issue. A great many who live a vegan lifestyle are usually concerned about global warming yet a lot of their foods are flown to UK then driven for distribution. Meat can be bred, reared, slaughtered then sold all very locally.

Every time we buy any item at all that bears the words Made in China we uphold this abhorrent practice - I’ve worked in China and seen the barbaric treatment of dogs and cats which makes my stomach turn - it’s not just becoming vegan because basically you’re not going to eat dogs yourself but it’s also about hitting the Chinese economy and letting China know that the rest of the world disapproves - who am I kidding - look what’s just happened in Hong Kong!!

@ElderlyPerson, your diet has never cost the life of an animal? Never eaten oyster mushrooms? What about the pesticides used in crop growing? Don't insects count as animals? Or the animals further up the food chain that have had their food (the insects) stolen by the plant eating humans? When I was a child you couldn't drive a few miles down the road in the summer without the windscreen of the car becoming covered in bugs. Now there's hardly any!
I totally respect anyone's decision to become vegan but the only way to truly help the planet is to eat within one's own ecosystem, eat less meat and waste nothing. We can't keep growing crops without the fertilizer supplied by the herbivores we are perfectly formed to digest as part of our diet putting back the nutrients we strip from the soil with our crop growing. Without them, we must resort to more and more chemicals. Vegetables force grown under miles and miles of plastic then shipped halfway around the world by plane are not good for the planet, not good for the ecosystem and not good for animal life generally, not just humans.

It is upsetting when you see something that you don’t expect to see, i agree with the suggestion that you watch something you like to make your brain move on. And I don’t think its wrong not to watch such things, watching them will not change anything just as - and I am sorry for this - pushing veganism is not going to stop the slaughter of dogs in china.
This is about not wanting to see unpleasant things unexpectedly not should I give up eating meat!

If you are a vegan who uses grain products which are combined harvested, animals have been killed in the making of your food. Baby deer amongst a range of animals are killed by the combine harvester in a terrible way.
We are only concerned about the eating of dogs in the same way as other cultures are about the eating of pork or beef. Whilst I wouldn't want to eat a dog or a cat per se, it is the cruelty they suffer before entering the food chain that it completely objectionable.

Yesterday I watched Seaspiracy on Netflix. It was a real eye opener. If you think, as I did, that eating fish is harmless watch this film. Even the organisations which promote ‘ dolphin friendly’ tuna are just money making organisations who don’t protect dolphins. The fish reared on fish farms suffer too. The damage being done to the oceans and the planet is just so awful. Its all short term money making with no thought for the long term consequences. Anyone with Netflix please watch this documentary

Does anyone remember when B films were shown as well as the main feature in cinemas? As a girl I inadvertently saw Le sang des Bêtes, a French film set in a slaughterhouse. I nearly had a nervous breakdown. I couldn’t kill an animal in order to eat it - we’ll perhaps if children were starving…

I've watched it Jan135, I hope more people do. I think the worse thing is seeing so much fish in the supermarket reduced section.

It is illegal to shoot seals, but fishermen here still do it from their salmon boats.

Well NOT we’ll. Where did that redundant apostrophe come from?

The production of food has more of an environmental impact than the transportation . A banana from a tropical country has less environmental impact than a locally produced burger. This idea that only vegans eat imported food is ridiculous - 60% of food consumed in the U.K. is imported and not just eaten by vegans. Anyway, this has become a vegan bashing thread when it should be about animal cruelty which is why many don’t eat meat in the first place, but also many eat less because of the environmental impact of animal farming- eating less meat should be encouraged surely even if you don’t care about animal welfare.

I was having a really nice morning until I read the story of the killing of dogs and the methods used. That's really upset me now.

I do eat meat but as far as possible from reliable sources where the animals are treated humanely, and respected. I have never knowingly eaten dogs, cats, or monkeys for that matter, despite living in Hong Kong for several years.

I appreciate that the public needs to be aware of blatant abuse, but is it really necessary to go go into such graphic detail?

I would love to go vegetarian or vegan but DH loves his meat and I don't want the hassle of making different meals all the time, plus expecting family to do the same when we visit. DD and family love their meat.
I used to eat steak and pork or lamb chops but now I don't want them. I don't like or want to eat fish either but DH loves it.
If I was on my own I'd eat vegetables, fruit and bread.
Basically I don't like someone killing animals for me to eat!

I support PETA with a monthly donation and must admit some of their videos are horrific. Surely it is no bad thing to be made aware of the animal cruelty that is out there just so you can purchase your leather handbag, alpaca jumper or goose-feather filled coat. Admitted most of this animal cruelty is abroad: Australian sheep tail docking, donkies skinned - I’ll leave it there as it’s not nice reading. You can choose or not to look at PETA’s website but be prepared to be shocked.