No one in this movement is challenging the love that sane people have for their companion animals. But this love has created a huge problem because we end up loving animals to death! I say “to death” because we continuously breed them until five to ten million UNLOVED, UNWANTED, HOMELESS dogs and cats are ANNUALLY murdered in dog and cat slaughterhouses that we euphemistically refer to as “shelters” and “humane societies.” Shelters and humane societies are supposed to be places of comfort and protection, not places of perpetual killings.
Therefore, breeding animals should be a CRIME. And a moratorium should be mandated immediately until all homeless animals, languishing in city slaughterhouses, have a home. In fact, human breeding should be illegal as well until all the UNLOVED, UNWANTED, HOMELESS children have been adopted into loving homes. Insisting that animals and children look a certain way— which is why we breed both—is selfish and unbecoming of a species that purports to understand right from wrong. Whatever happened to altruism?
Another problem with having companion animals is that dogs and cats are meat-eaters. This presents an unacceptable ethical dilemma because we end up raping, enslaving and killing even more cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys and fish to feed the dogs and cats that we (claim to) care about more. Since people NEVER go into their backyards to kill squirrels or birds for their companions, why would it be okay to pay people at slaughterhouses to murder and dismember cows, pigs, chickens, etc. for dogs and cats?
Fortunately, in this day and age there are vegan dog, cat and ferret foods (see the video below this paragraph). Rex, my baby who passed away at the age of 15 on January 24, 2004, ate vegan dog food for the last nine years of his life. Doyle, who was 10 years old when I rescued him in 2012, has been thriving on a vegan diet for years! Millions of other dogs and cats worldwide live perfectly healthy lives as vegans, too. In fact, the Nyanyana crocodile farm in Zimbabwe has proven that even the utmost carnivore can live on plant-based foods by converting more than 150,000 crocs to veganism. Unfortunately, these vile slave-owners aren’t utilizing the vegan diet for ethical reasons as they are murdering the crocs and stealing their skin for the “clothing” industry. But having more than 150,000 stone cold carnivores thrive on a vegan diet proves that veganism is for everybody. And check out this story about Little Tyke, a lion who vehemently refused to eat her meals if meat was a part of them, or kill her lamb, chicken, cat and many other animal friends at a sanctuary in Washington in the late 1940s and early '50s. There are three photographs of Tyke located in the section titled Are Nonhuman Carnivores Culpable Carnivores? of the Humans Are Herbivores page. And please read that section to understand why NO ONE, human or animal, has the right to kill and eat animals because animals and animal products are not food under any circumstance in the same way five-year-old kids aren’t fuckholes for disgusting old men and women aren’t punching bags for their husbands and boyfriends!
V-Dog, Evolution Diet, VegePets, Compassion Circle and VeganCats are great websites for cruelty-free food. You can also glean more info from this e-book about vegan dog nutrition, and be inspired by Bramble, the world's oldest dog. If you prefer to make food for your friends instead, several dog-food recipes are listed at the bottom of this page.
I wish I could take away the domestication of dogs and cats. It was a bad idea to take them out of their natural environments thousands of years ago. However, I am not an irrational absolutist. It is obvious that dogs and cats ENJOY living with us. They live in our homes and receive love, warmth, shelter, water and food. And as you can see by the photo of me and Doyle below, our homes are not prisons! Besides breeding and meat-based food issues, I don't see much of an ethical dilemma with having dog and cat companions. However, there is one exception to the previous statement: Spaying and neutering. Taking away an animal's right to procreate is the ONLY discrepancy in all animal rights philosophy. However, considering the alternative—murdering millions of LIVE dogs and cats in city slaughterhouses every year—I will GLADLY take away an animal's right to procreate. If I could, I would take away every human’s make-believe right to procreate, too! For the record, since spaying or neutering an animal is a surgery performed with anesthetic, it cannot be labeled cruel even if it is a violation of their right to reproduce.
By the way, birds, fish, snakes—or other animals who have to be kept in cages—NEVER belong in our homes. Cages are prisons, and NO creature is happy living in a prison-cage.
I want to address one more issue because, in an endless attempt to catch vegans in a contradiction, many meat, dairy and egg-eaters claim that vegans are engaging in animal slavery because many of us have companion animals. This comment is as stupid and trite as the ‘vegans-are-murdering-plants’ quip because what these nitwits are failing to grasp is that all breeding industries, from puppy and kitten mills to high-end home-breeding establishments, are run by meat, dairy and egg-eaters, not vegans! And vegans, as always, are forever trying to clean up the blood trail that oppressors and murderers are constantly leaving in their paths! In fact, Doyle (pictured above) was rescued when he was 10 because his nonvegan family just brought a new human baby into their lives and then promptly decided that they didn't want their 10-year-old friend anymore. Does anyone really wonder why I despise humans? Fortunately, I had just asked a friend who was associated with the Michigan Humane Society if there were any older dogs there that no one wanted. Was I supposed to let him be murdered at the shelter-slaughterhouse rather than give him a happy life at my place?
Doggie Purée
- 1 can pumpkin/pumpkin purée (can also use acorn squash – just peel, slice and cook covered until soft for around 45 minutes)
- 1/2-3/4 cup soaked oat groats (groats are unprocessed grains)
- 1/4 cup buckwheat groats
- 1/2-1 banana
- 2 tbsp hempseed or ground flaxseed
Blend, process or mash the above ingredients to the consistency that your dog likes. Makes 1-2 servings.
Doggie Pâté
- 1/2 clove mashed garlic
- 1 cup cooked grain (barley, brown rice, quinoa or millet)
- 2 tbsp of sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, pecans, brazil, pecans or walnuts
- 1 cup cooked kale, spinach, squash, carrots or zucchini
- 1 tbsp fresh herbs (basil, oregano, dill or cilantro)
- 1 tbsp coconut or olive oil drizzled on top (optional – good for dry skin)
Blend, process or mash the above ingredients to the consistency that your dog likes. Makes 1-2 servings.
Doggie Stew #1
- 6 cups water (can add more for moister texture)
- 1 cup cooked grain (barley, brown rice, quinoa or millet)
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 3 cooked, medium-sized, PEELED sweet potatoes (squash or zucchini can be substituted)
- 1/2 cup almond or peanut butter
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (optional – reduces intestinal distress, but some dogs have sensitivity to this, so look for changes in stool)
- 1 tbsp hemp or sunflower seeds
- 200 milligrams cranberry extract (optional – good for urinary pH balance)
Blend, process or mash the above ingredients to the consistency that your dog likes. Makes several servings, so freeze what you won't use within 2-3 days.
Doggie Stew #2
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup barley
- 1 large PEELED, chopped sweet potato
- 4 medium peeled, chopped carrots
- 2-4 tbsp coconut or olive oil
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/4 cup ground sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
- 12 oz. mashed silken tofu
- 2 mashed bananas
- 1 can pumpkin purée
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1/4-1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/8-1/4 cup peanut butter
Boil water, add grains, stir in sweet potato, carrots and oil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rosemary, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and tofu. Stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes. Mix in bananas, pumpkin purée, peas, nutritional yeast and peanut butter. Stir well and remove from heat. Makes around 7-9 servings. (Courtesy of TheVeganZombie.com)
Doggie Biscuits
- 15 oz. pumpkin purée
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/4 cup sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat, buckwheat or barley flour
Heat oven to 350°. Mix pumpkin purée, flaxseeds, oats, oil and molasses. Add flour, mix well (if dough is too wet, add another 1/4 cup). Sprinkle flour on cutting board and roll dough flat, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a dog bone cookie cutter, cut and arrange treats on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake 40 minutes. Makes 18 biscuits. (Courtesy of TheVeganZombie.com)
