It's our month to celebrate and come together to appreciate the impactful work that we all do for animals and to ignite the flame to get us through another year of campaigning. Whether you join us on the street, donate towards our investigations, sign petitions or share videos on social media, we are all making impactful changes to create a better future for everyone.

Let's take a look into exactly what veganism is...

For the first week of World Vegan Month, we are bringing it back to the basics, sharing educational questions and answers on our social media platforms, and we wanted to share them with you too, for anyone needing guidance in the future. These can be super handy if there's anyone asking you questions about veganism and why they should be vegan!

‍What is veganism?

‍“A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals” - The Vegan Society

‍Why should I be vegan?

‍Animals have a right to freedom and a life free from exploitation and only veganism advocates for this.

‍Is veganism a diet?

‍In short, no. Veganism includes following a plant-based diet but also reduces harm by choosing not to support other exploitative industries such as sport, entertainment, animal experimentation, captive animals and clothing.

‍Does it help the environment?

‍Following a plant-based diet, as part of being vegan, can greatly reduce your impact on the environment and has been found to be the single biggest change one can make to their lifestyle to lessen their adverse effect on the natural world.

‍What about my health?

‍A plant-based diet can be healthy for all life stages including children and pregnancy. It can be a much healthier choice if you follow a wholefoods diet.

‍What will happen to the farmed animals?

‍A societal transition to veganism will be gradual and as demand lessens, production will fall, gradually reducing the number of animals being farmed. Breeding will decrease and any remaining animals could live out their natural lifespans at sanctuaries.

How does veganism and sports crossover?

‍Veganism has the aim of ending animal exploitation and that includes in sports. Animals across the globe are used in sporting activities including in fox hunts, horse riding, greyhound racing and bullfighting. Animals ultimately suffer at the hands of sporting events, with animals who are too slow, injured or old being killed if they are no longer profitable.

‍Do vegans support animal experiments?

‍Experimenting on animals is a legal form of animal torture. Hidden behind closed doors, experiments are callous, cruel and ineffective. 92% of drugs fail in human clinical trials despite passing animal tests, meaning millions of animals are mutilated and abused needlessly. For cosmetics and home products, look out for the leaping bunny symbol (and clear vegan labelling) to ensure you are never supporting torture!

How do I avoid animal use in clothing?

Many materials are made from animals including leather, suede, wool, fur, feathers and silk. When shopping it is important to check what materials are made from but they are not always clearly labelled. Animal fur can even be mistakenly sold as faux fur. There are symbols to remember that will tell you if the item is animal skin, like these two, which represent ‘leather’ and ‘coated leather’

We will be sharing plenty of content throughout our social media this month to help people learn about veganism, become active for animals and much more! This will also be included in following emails to you. Let's use World Vegan Month to advocate for animals everywhere.

As always,

For the animals.