Christmas is a time of goodwill towards men, and cruelty to animals. Tens of thousands of pigs, lambs and chickens were slaughtered in December to provide meals for New Zealanders.

Dozens of activists in Auckland, Whanganui, Wellington and Christchurch stood at slaughterhouses in December, as part of the Animal Save Movement’s #WakeUpWorld campaign, aimed at remembering the animals who gave their lives for Christmas dinner, and to ask people to sign up to become vegan in the month of January. https://veganuary.com/register/

The Animal Save Movement was started in 2010 by Toronto citizen Anita Krajnc, who was later prosecuted for giving water to thirsty pigs being transported in slaughter trucks. The case was thrown out, but the publicity helped to grow the Animal Save Movement which now has around 700 groups in seventy countries. The aim of ASM is to spend a few minutes with the animals, giving them love and comfort in their final moments, and to take videos and photos to share on social media. The Save Movement is based on Leo Tolstoy’s philosophy “When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can, and try to help.”

“By being present, and documenting the animals’ suffering, we are asking the public to take a moment to reflect on their fate” said Sandra Kyle, NZ Country Liaison for The Save Movement. “If it were a dog or cat being slaughtered, it would cause an uproar. But there is no difference between our pets and farmed animals in their ability to suffer.

“One of the hardest things at vigils is seeing the fear in the eyes of the animals as they peer out from the trucks. Animals are much more intelligent than we realise and they can sense what is about to happen to them. They stamp their feet, roll their eyes, froth at the mouth, try to ‘hide’.

“The industry talks about ‘humane slaughter’ but there is no such thing as humane slaughter for an animal who doesn’t want to die. The gun or cut to the throat does not always kill the first time either, and some animals die a protracted, agonising death at the end of a life of suffering in factory farms. In the dairy industry, mothers are routinely separated from their babies as soon as they born; and approximately 1.7 million calves, the majority males, are shipped off to the slaughterhouse at just days old.

“As people learn more about animal rights, they are turning away from eating animals and moving to a kinder compassionate lifestyle. Just like all the social movements that ended, for example slavery, times are changing and we need to adapt. With so many companies creating delicious cruelty-free alternatives, it's never been easier to be vegan”.

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