How I Found My Way To Veganism

From early childhood, I’ve always had an interest in other animals. When I was a child in the ’60s, small frill-necked lizards dotted our old wooden fence. I loved to watch them and on occasion I would pick them up to look closer. Occasionally there would be a very large Bearded Dragon in our yard. My interest in our nonhuman residents was more than a superficial fascination with their appearance. I would find solace in their company. I’ve always felt different to others and I wonder if perhaps it was because I was adopted. I think in some odd way, I identified with my nonhuman friends and their obvious difference. Even at that early age, as I observed them, I remember wondering what they might be experiencing, what they might be feeling, what they thought of me, and so on.

As with most Australian families, my parents bought us “pets”…