[Image: A Muscovy duck stands on a path next to a lake.]

Content note: Description of violence against animals.

Yesterday, I needed to get out of the apartment. The management was turning off water in the building for repairs, as they’ve done an uncomfortable number of times lately. I can deal with no hot water, but with no running water at all, and noise from construction on the vacant units, I figured I should stop being a hermit and get outside for a few hours, as difficult as it is for me to be around people nowadays.

I ended up going to Golden Gate Park, wanting to visit Stow Lake to look at the birds. I’d run around that lake several times when I was in marathon training three years ago, but I was usually too tired and in too much pain by that point in the run (especially on the return leg) to appreciate the views. I wanted to go there now with no agenda, no time limit, and no heavy camera (the snapshot at the top of this post was taken with my cell phone).

As I set out, it was a typical “summer” morning in San Francisco: weather in the mid-50s and overcast. Though this weather is ideal for running, it wasn’t so good for casual strolling, especially as I was feeling very depressed.

Once I arrived at the lake, I enjoyed watching various geese, ducks, and other birds. Some approached me, then wandered off, probably because I didn’t offer any food. But I won’t pretend to know their thoughts; I’m not an expert in animal behavior, and I’m sometimes uncomfortable seeing animal advocates ascribing emotions to our fellow animals to “humanize” them. The only things I know for sure is that they want to live, don’t want to be imprisoned, don’t want their bodies manipulated, and don’t want their children taken away from them. For me, that—lack of consent—is reason enough to leave them alone, regardless of their feelings or intelligence.

I watched one duck, the one pictured at the top, for awhile, as he (I believe he was a male) preened his feathers. I felt very sad, thinking about the billions of birds we kill for their eggs and flesh every year. I remembered a scene in Cowspiracy where a backyard farmer selected a duck from his flock of prisoners to kill, and chopped their head off with an axe. I’ve watched that film three times, and every time I’ve closed my eyes just before the axe came down. I cannot bring myself to watch that scene. I think that the people who need to watch that scene are the ones who have no problem eating the flesh or eggs of “humanely-raised” animals, not me.

After leaving the lake, I wandered the park and came upon the de Young Museum. I knew that being the first Tuesday of the month, the museums were all offering free admission, but I didn’t particularly want to see the exhibits; I was just hoping to find a restroom. As I approached the building, before I got within twenty feet of one of the side doors, a security guard came out and demanded that I open my backpack. As these were the first words anyone had spoken directly to me in over two days (as I’m a hermit, and Ziggy has been out of town), I just stood there in mild shock.

I soon recovered and complied. He looked in my (mostly-empty) backpack, then said that I would have to hold it in my hand, not on my back. I decided I didn’t really want to go in the building at that point, so I just wandered around the sculpture garden, holding the backpack in my hand as instructed. I felt shaken, though relieved he had at least addressed me as “Sir” instead of “Ma’am.” I didn’t think he was racially profiling, as I saw him asking the same of white visitors, and he was a black man himself. I just wondered whether this policy was actually making a real difference to the safety of park visitors, or if it was another example of security theater.

I worry that we are going to devolve into more and more of a police state, without any true reduction in violence. I believe that our culture of killing that allows us to breed and slaughter billions of our fellow animals every year extends to how we treat our fellow human beings. This is not to say that vegans are necessarily less violent than non-vegans; I’ve seen terribly oppressive behavior from vegans since becoming active in animal rights, which I’ve documented on numerous occasions. But just as our US-American “Independence Day” really only celebrates the liberation of a select few, I believe we cannot have true peace and liberation as long as we continue to dominate every other species on the planet.

I don’t have all the answers to how to eradicate violence. It will never be possible to do so completely; we cannot exist without destroying life. But we can certainly do a better job at co-existing with others than we are doing right now. Veganism is one part of how we can evolve into a truly peaceful species.

[Image: Head-on view of a large fish swimming in an aquarium.]

Thanks to a post from the Food Empowerment Project, I learned that today, June 8, is World Oceans Day. Respecting our oceans— sometimes referred to as the “lungs” of the Earth— is crucial, but often centers on a “sustainability” that is entirely human-focused. Our planet’s oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water are home to trillions of animals, but most humans consider them mere “seafood,” or living art pieces to be imprisoned and admired from the outside of a glass aquarium.

I’m not speaking here of subsistence fishing by indigenous people. Although I do not condone the unnecessary and avoidable killing of any animal, in some communities survival on plants alone is very difficult. It is for this reason, and not out of respect for “traditions,” that I confine my comments here to the killing of fishes and other sea animals by humans who have plentiful access to plant-based foods.

Even before I went vegan, it always bothered me that many people considered the eating of fishes to be appropriate for vegetarians. Fishes and other sea animals are sentient beings who feel pain and experience fear. Fish Feel* has more information on these misunderstood animals. There are perpetual arguments even among vegans about whether certain animals such as oysters should be considered sentient, but the vast majority of the animals we kill for food certainly are.

I eventually realized that part of why many self-described vegetarians eat fishes is not because they don’t consider them to be animals, but because they are vegetarian for health reasons. Many consider the flesh of sea animals to be healthier for humans than the flesh of land animals. I could cite many resources to the contrary, but I would rather focus on the ethical arguments here, because veganism is not a diet.

I use the word “flesh” deliberately, because referring to our fellow animals with such terms as “meat,” “poultry,” and “seafood” reduces them to objects. Objects are exactly how most humans view members of other species; property to be owned, used, and discarded as we see fit. This mindset is especially prominent in Western cultures, but exists worldwide. Regardless, “respecting” animals—whether from the land or sea—means nothing to them if they are dead.

I recall several times when my desire to speak up for fishes was suppressed by social expectations. About twenty years ago, when I was gathering quotes from caterers for my first wedding, I made it clear we wanted the food to be all vegetarian. One of the caterers offered a menu that included the bodies of sea animals. I explained to her that this food was not appropriate for vegetarians. She responded, “So the others will have nothing, then?” (As if a flesh-eating human could not go four hours without eating the body of another animal.) I didn’t argue; I simply went with another caterer, even though her quoted price was higher.

Another incident around that time: I was at a restaurant with my grandparents and my then-partner. The restaurant had fish bodies lying on ice in a display case. My grandmother expressed how beautiful one of the fishes was. All I could think was how much more beautiful that animal would be if they were still alive and swimming freely in the ocean. But I was sitting at a table with three non-vegetarians, so I said nothing.

In a more recent incident, after I had gone vegan, I was at a party when an acquaintance came up to me and a friend (both of whom knew I was vegan). She excitedly exclaimed how during a recent vacation, a local had killed and prepared a fish especially for her birthday. Shen then paused and said something to the effect that I wouldn’t appreciate this, which was true. But I really didn’t know how or whether to express my disapproval, so I was silent.

I regret that my social awkwardness and other factors have prevented me from speaking out more for my fellow animals, but this blog is one way that I can do that from the relative safety of my home. It really does bother me when humans treat other animals as objects, whether for consumption, clothing, entertainment, or any other purpose. That applies to fishes as much as anyone else.

So on this World Oceans Day, please respect sea life by going vegan. Animals are people, not property, and like us, they just want to live.

* Linking for information only; I do not endorse this organization.