On August 25, thousands of vegans across the world will take to the streets, demanding an end to all forms of animal oppression.
The march will be led by The Official Animal Rights March (TOARM), which began in London in 2016 when UK animal rights organisation Surge started the movement with 2,500 vegans. In 2017, the march doubled to 5,000 vegans marching for animal liberation through the streets of London. Around the world, thousands more marched in solidarity marches, with New York surpassing 2,500 attendees.
This year, TOARM is calling on all vegans worldwide to join the rising call, and help fulfill the vision of a world where compassion towards all non-human animals is the norm.
More than benefiting just the animals, ending animal abuse would actually help ensure the survival of billions of humans, as well. How? Ending animal abuse would also mean the end of animal/livestock farms, where the most atrocious acts against animals are committed on an industrial scale.
Science has already proven that the global consumption of animal products, the source of which are these animal farms, contribute significantly to climate change, at a level that surpasses even that of the automotive industry.
Livestock farming accounts for the use of 70 percent of the global freshwater and 38 percent of the world’s land-use conversion. Some 70 percent of the Amazon rainforest, in fact, has already been cleared for grazing and feed crop production. The “Livestock and Climate Change” published in the issue of World Watch magazine reported that livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions. The worldwide GHG is attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, horses, pigs and poultry citing an analysis performed by Robert Goodland, a former World Bank Group environmental adviser, with cowriter Jeff Anhang, an environmental specialist at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp.
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So, you see, even if you’re not vegan, by simply connecting the dots–seeing the effect of raising livestock, producing meat, and consuming it on a global scale–you will realize that eating that hamburger, fried chicken, and lechon, wearing that leather jacket, shoes and belt, fur coat, toting that leather bag, and sitting in your leather car seat adds not just more abuse to animals, but also seals the fate of billions upon billions of our fellow human beings.
On August 25, make that decision that saves not just animals, but our own kind. Become vegan. Take to the streets. End all animal oppression.
In the Philippines, the TOARM program begins at 11 a.m. with an assembly at the Bonifacio Shrine, and proceeds to speeches by animal rights advocates Alex Orlino, Edison Yu, Nancy Siy, Aurus Sy, Nona Castillo, and Jofer Santos.
By 1 p.m., the assembly will start its march, coursing through Taft and Quirino avenues and Mabini Street.
Becoming a vegan for the rest of your life won’t be much of a sacrifice. Join the Manila Vegans Facebook page to discover a whole new lifestyle that sustains, enhances, and enriches vegans from all walks of life, young and old, rich or poor. Many websites also offer vegan restaurants in and around the metropolis, such as happycow.net.
Do your talking, and marching, on August 25. More importantly, walk your talk from then on.