Charlotte Gill

The animal rights revolution is coming

Some will scoff when I say that we are in the first wave of an animal rights movement which will see our furry friends elevated to a new status in our society. But it’s true. In the last few years, concern for animal welfare has grown. Even the last week has demonstrated this. Take the fury which greeted the decision of a Japanese ice rink to entomb 5,000 dead fish beneath skaters’ feet. Or the scores who complained about the torture of live insects on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity. And those upset about the animal-fat loaded £5 note. These isolated events speak volumes about a new moral reality we’re entering.

The animal rights revolution is coming, at a pace the pro-meat lobbyists just can’t get their heads around. When I first gave up meat as a teenager, people laughed and told me I would soon abandon this phase of rebellion. That didn’t happen, though; in fact, many others have since joined the movement. The UK now has 1.68 million vegetarians, and the number of vegans has risen by 360 percent over the last decade.

There are plenty of reasons why people are joining the cause – all of which make total sense, to the annoyance of rabid meat eaters. Yet to rationalise their dietary habits, the carnivorous still rest on the tired arguments of pleasure, tradition and nature. But the truth is that all of these are as outdated as other phenomena they once justified: gladiator games and incest, to name a few.

What I believe is pushing animal issues into people’s consciousness is a new Maslowian enlightenment. Meat serves as a primary need when resources are low for populations, but once people have food and shelter and their other needs are met, there is time for introspection – which can lead to a redressing of age-old behaviours. 

In the UK, it is high time we reflected on the excessive consumption of meat, which is not just unnecessary, but wrong.

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