Adelaide Vegans
Members: Tracy Aplin
How long have you been vegan? 10 months
Hello,
I have always loved animals but it never occurred to me to become Vegan until now. I don't know why, ignorance, disassociation. I can't use the excuse that I never knew how bad factory farming was until I saw the videos, I knew that animals died to feed us. I guess I assumed it was natural for us to eat meat and that we needed it to survive and be healthy. Certainly the words of my parents and advertisers would have led me to believe this was the case. My life literally changed over night at the age of 46 back in Dec of 2006 when I called my neice on her mobile and asked her what she up to, "I'm at the Ferret Lodge getting a ferret". I half jokingly replied that I wanted one and an hour later she was at my door with two tiny bundles that both fitted curled up in the palm of her hand, 6 week old brother and sister, the boy was for me and the girl was for her. We talked about naming them Ying and Yang. I knew that my partner would not approve so I slipped her $50 and told her that when he got home to say that she had given him to me as a Xmas present. He said "Who gives someone a farken ferret for Xmas!!" So I decided to name him Farken the ferret. He gave us 18 very happy months, he lived free roam in the house sleeping in a box under the bathroom cupboard at night. He got out a few times but he always came back. Ferrets are very curious creatures so they get lost very easilly, they take off and then can't find their way home. In April of 2008, we were busy trying to toilet train 4 puppies so we were opening and closing the door a lot more than usual and Farken got out without us even noticing until the next morning. We put an ad in the local messenger which inspired journalist Matt Abrahams to write a half page article about it asking "How did Farken the ferret get his name?" So I wrote to him and told him the story and he rang me up and interviewed me on radio for 15 minutes. We put up 100 posters, put 200 leaflets in letterboxes and door knocked the whole area with no success. We had two sightings but both times the person was too frightened to pick him up so by the time we got there he was gone. During that time I got 10 phone calls, and eight of them were from people who had found other peoples ferrets, so I realised then how easilly they get lost and decided to only take in rescued ferrets from that point as adult ferrets are very difficult to rehome. We have lost another ferret to illness since then, and currently have 6 beautiful babies, one boy called Frodo and 5 girls ranging in age from 2 to 5 years. Around the same time I was very obsessed with You Tube and heavilly involved with family upsets which were exaggerated by the posting of one video inparticular. I ended up only posting videos of ferrets and eventually moved on to Facebook about 3 years ago, where family disputes continued. As I was becoming more and more fond of my animals and less and less fond of my family, I gathered up over 1900 ferret loving friends, some of whom were Vegan and I was now witness to the animal abuse across the world but it was obvious that nothing even came close to the numbers of animals that suffer because of factory farming and I felt that becoming Vegan was a really easy way to relieve the guilt of being involved in this torture and to actually do something. I did the Vegan Challenge in March last year and coped quite well and gave up meat and dairy in their basic form instantly, but still struggled with processed food, and with still having to prepare meals for my meat eating partner, I became a very lazy Vegan, eating a lot of junk food, BBQ Pringles etc and bread and pasta, and not really feeling any healthier or losing any wieght, although I did notice that my IBS had subsided somewhat, my partner claiming that had more to do with just eating smaller amounts as I had always had a tendency to eat nothing all day and then eat a huge amount at dinner time causing me very strong tummy pains and being stuck in the loo regularly after dinner for hours.
This year I have pledged to eat healthier, not that the health aspect was ever a factor for me, but just simply as a tool to promote Veganism to the unenlightened selfish beings who don't see the suffering of animals as a good enough reason to give up meat and dairy. So my goal is to lose weight and get fit, I currently weigh 76kgs and would to like to get back to my once regular weight of 63kgs and beyond that if possible.
I post Vegan videos and quotes on Facebook every day. I have upset and offended many people as I gathered my friends through a mutual love for ferrets and so most do not appreciate feeling like they 'do not love animals'. I decided early on to try not to post my personal opinions, or to point the finger at meat eaters as the abusers and I certainly did not believe that meat eaters do not love animals. But still people got upset, including my own sister. Most recently in November I went out for a few drinks with my sister and my nephew and because I knew she was sensitive about the issue I ordered a 'normal' meal of noodles which most probably contained a small amount of meat and the reaction I got from them was extreme and severe calling me a hypocrite and telling me to get off my high horse etc. When I raised my voice in response to their name calling, my sister walked out leaving me in the bar and promptly posted on Facebook that I was a hypocrite and told my partner that she 'fucking hates me' and we sadly have not spoken since.
My partner works nights as an interstate truck driver so I am on my own for 6 nights one week and 4 nights the following week. I was looking for a group to go out for dinner with mid week or a Saturday night, as unfortunately the only night my partner is home is on a Friday so it seems for now that my only contact with the group will be in the forum and online. But if anyone wants to meet up in the City for a meal on a different night, I would be happy to hear from you.
Thanks,
Tracy.