Today I went on a visit to The Donkey Sanctuary, in Manchester with my Mum and her Boyfriend Chris.

For Mother’s Day, I adopted my Mum a Donkey (named Henry) because she adores them and we had the privilege of meeting him today for the first time. We will definitely be paying some more visits and I would encourage everybody else to do the same.

There isn’t enough awareness, or appreciation, of The Donkey Sanctuary and the life changing work they do 365 days a year.

I would like to begin by saying how pleased I was to see how well the gorgeous Donkeys were taken care of. They had plenty of space to move around, a large sleeping area, plenty of food (including treats like ginger biscuits and carrots) and fresh water available and it was very clear that the Donkeys are loved and cared for unconditionally. They had obviously grown comfortable with the staff caring for them. And all of this warms my heart and fills it with joy.

The Donkey Sanctuary is an international charity, which has been running for 45 years, which aims to transform the lives of Donkeys throughout The World, whether they’ve been abandoned, abused or if they simply cannot be taken care of anymore. This sanctuary is incredible as they are compassionate and will never turn a Donkey down, regardless of their age or their state of health.

The Donkey Sanctuary are also an assisted therapy centre, working with Children with additional needs and/or sensory issues. Children are always said to be more relaxed when with animals, as they are not judgemental and due to their caring, therapeutic side. I speak from personal experience as I find all animals to be of more use than any therapy.  This aspect of the sanctuary also allows the children, and visitors, to form bonds and trust with the donkeys, which is always such a lovely feeling.

It was incredible being able to visit Henry, knowing that our donations go towards his basic care, husbandry and health needs. Without forgetting to mention the fact that he is absolutely gorgeous and approvingly very well fed… as you can tell by looking at his huge tummy!

In total, The Donkey Sanctuary (in Manchester) has a grand total of 18 beautiful Donkeys. Each with their own stories and their own unique, cheeky personalities. There was only 1 female, you can imagine that she’s treated like a Queen.

Today, during my visit, a Donkey had become injured (due to rough play with another Donkey) and within seconds a member of staff was on board to treat the Donkey and mend him back to good health. The Donkey had hurt his eye; he was soon running around again cheekily alongside his 17 friends. It was refreshing to see how observational the staff were during this time.

When the Donkeys are old enough to retire, they go off to the partner sanctuary in Devon with lots of other Donkeys to spend their older years in a brand new location. Basically a holiday for the Donkeys.

Please go and visit if you get the opportunity to, you will be amazed by how content the Donkeys are thanks to this charity.

Lots of love and hugs,

Laur xx

 

Definition of a Vegan: ‘A person who does not eat or use animal products’

Veganism. In this single word, I am already beginning to picture people rolling their eyes and throwing a glance my way as though I have two heads. I bet you think I’ve been paid to write this, or that I’m just some modern day hippy. You’re probably thinking, WHY Veganism? Why would you choose to live on a lifestyle of vegetables, do you enjoy the taste of cardboard?

Amazingly, Veganism is now on the rise with more and more supermarkets, cafes, restaurants and companies catering for Vegans as more people have decided to join the cruelty-free lifestyle, saving hundreds of animals each year. With the high rise in Veganism, this brings a demand for more products to be made available for us to consume, use and wear. N0 – Veganism isn’t just about food!

Veganism isn’t a Diet; Veganism is a lifestyle

There are a wide range of Vegan products available, way more than just your average fruit and veggies – though they are delicious too! We are now able to have a Vegan alternative in pretty much everything. Cheese, burgers, ice-cream, yoghurt, popcorn, chocolate, pizza, milk, soup… You name it, there’ll more than likely be a vegan, cruelty-free, alternative to the things you usually buy.

Veganism is not expensive, you can buy lots of vegan products and spend a little amount of money. Also, you’ll be rewarded with the feeling of no longer contributing to suffering and animal abuse. Vegan products are available in most supermarkets now including:

• Asda
• Tesco
• Sainsburys
• Morrisons
• Aldi
• Lidl
• Ocado
• M&S
• B&M bargains
• Holland and Barrett
• Waitrose

Right now, hundreds of animals will be sent to slaughter, animals will be living in treacherous cramped conditions where they cannot turn around or move properly, where they are forced to stand in their own faeces and where they will have no access to the outdoors or fresh air. These animals will never feel the cool, crisp morning air running through their fur (or feathers) and they will never experience the feeling of walking through freshly grown grass.  And all this is because they are forced to give up their short lives to become ‘food’. Shouldn’t all beings have the rights to their own lives? Flashback to the past, remember when Sweeney Todd was butchering people and putting them in pasteries? People were very disugusted, sickened and confused when they found out. Yet, this is the reality of millions of animal’s lives. This isn’t okay.

You’re probably thinking ‘Well, I buy free-ranged so it’s okay!’ But may I just remind you that NO animals want to be killed? Whether they’re free-ranged or not, they are still being exploited and are tragic victims of animal abuse, pain and suffering. Some companies use pictures of animals looking ‘happy’ in order to sell their produce and have positive words in their products in order to attract customers.  including the Happy Egg Company.

Are the Hens really all that happy, being used as machines? Being forced to lay egg after egg whilst confined in the worst possible conditions?

Animals are here with us, not for us

The animals you are consuming will have been artificially inseminated in order to be forced to get pregnant. Then, straight after birth, the animals are taken away from their Mother’s before they’ve even developed a bond. Before the baby has been able to lactate from it’s mother. Not only does this traumatise the animals and cause them distress but it also has a negative impact on their mental state too. Then, when the mother is no longer able to give birth they will be sent to slaughter too. What kind of life is that? Being used a machine and then being forced into a death sentence?

Imagine if a Human Mother was injected time after time, forced to give birth unwillingly and then killed when they could no longer reach pregnancy?

How would you feel if your baby had just been taken away? Will be due to go to slaughter and will never be seen again? If this happened to a person, it’d be all over the media and people would be going insane. So why do people think it’s okay to treat animals in such a way?

‘Not your Mum, not your milk’

Imagine the controversy of feeding a new-born lamb with a Human Mother’s breast milk? Imagine how disturbed people would be? The feelings of anger and disgust?

Well, it’s exactly the same scenario when Humans are drinking animal’s milk. The milk you’re consuming alone or in your food products, was meant to be for a new born. The eggs you’re eating are periods, the flesh you’re eating was once a living, breathing animal who wanted nothing more than to live and to be free. The fur on your new, expensive coat was once an animal too who was born to live, not to be worn.

I chose Veganism and with this I chose to live a cruelty-free and compassionate lifestyle. After years of being Vegetarian, I educated myself in the harsh realities of the dairy industries and simply decided that enough was enough. I just wasn’t willing to contribute to the pain and suffering of beautiful, intelligent animals. I didn’t want to put money into the industries that cause horrific experiences for hundreds of thousands of animals.

I chose Veganism because I wish to work with animals in the future, I’ve made a personal pledge to save as many animal’s lives as possible, I’ve made a promise to care for and love all the animals in my care unconditionally. And for me, I couldn’t be hypocritical and spend my day saving animals for me to go home afterwards and eat some(one) that doesn’t belong to me.

And most importantly, I wish not to eat my friends, the reasons I fight each day,  I wish not to treat my body as a graveyard but as a nourished temple filled with joy and compassion. I wish to work exceptionally hard in order to create a wonderful world for animals and all living things.

Go Vegan, join the happy and compassionate lifestyle where we embrace animals and nature as opposed to destroying them.

Hugs,

Laur x