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As I said in a previous post, I frequently get lumped into the most extreme group associations possible from people who find out what i do for a living; they immediately assume that I am an extremist. Surprisingly, there is a whole reverse side to this that comes from other animal advocates when they feel that someone is not extreme enough. It is often surprising to find out how some animal advocates shun other animal advocates, just because they are not as militant as them. I have seen conversations amongst two animal advocates become a contest as to who is more militant, and it becomes this game of the more militant advocate pointing out the hypocrisy of the less-militant advocate. I will commonly hear something along the lines of, “You are a vegetarian, then why do you wear leather?”, or, “If you are truly an animal advocate, then why are you just vegetarian, and not vegan?”. I personally experienced a situation where a friend of mine, who is an avid meat-eater, took several hours out of her busy schedule to rush in and help me at a fundraising event for circus animals, only to be berated by another volunteer because my friend was volunteering for animals, yet wasn’t a vegetarian. Not only does this friend still eat meat, but she will not be helping out this particular organization again because she felt that her efforts were completely unappreciated. That is a lose-lose situation. This is not to say one is right, and one is wrong. But there are better ways to handle a situation such as that which may simply work better. The bottom line is this: regardless of how militant, or not, an animal advocate is, they are still an animal advocate. What is the distinction? You have to look at their intent; they are taking some sort of stand for animals. It may not be your stand, and it may not look like an ideal stand, but they are taking a stand - and that stand should be commended. And if they managed to arrive at a particular stand on their own; i.e. becoming a vegetarian, or advocating for spay/neuter, then doesn’t it stand to reason that they are open to learning more and making even more decisions about the kinds of stands that they will take as they are more involved? Pointing out that which you feel is hypocritical only serves to make a fledgling advocate feel defensive and leave a bitter taste in their mouths about working for advocacy. And then we are only undoing the possible; the possibility of another outstanding voice in our cause. We will never have a world that assimilates to one lifestyle; that is the beauty and diversity of our planet. So when we see someone take a step towards animal advocacy, no matter how small, we should celebrate it as a victory…not a loss.
These are excellent points that you’ve made. Unfortunately, it is this way in just about any area of advocacy. People often don’t recognize the efforts of others if they don’t look the way they expect them to. It’s a big blind spot that is human nature.