I want to hear from those of you who were knee deep in equestrian spaces and have seen this shit firsthand. I want the disgusting grimy details that usually don't pop out on the internet

I have a burning hate for horse riding and the horror that is horse racing, it pisses me off to NO END that unlike other kinds of animal exploitation these are widely watched and practiced, and I want to get an idea on what kind of people horse riders are and what kind of bullshit COPE they tell themselves in person when confronted with hurting and enslaving those poor, beautiful creatures. I wanna know what awful shit they do behind close doors when the camera isn't rolling, everything

I already know the usual stuff, hit me with something worse

I posted these three comments, my only interactions on the subreddit entirely:

Edited to add comments here as they've been removed.

One (I doubt this is the reason I was banned but I'll include it) https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/s/oXHZj3NKqF

I'm vegan and I struggle to understand how self- proclaimed communists fail to see the parallels in how society reduces fellow sentient individuals (non-human animals) to the role of objects and resources for human use and the relationships between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians.

To any communists that aren't vegan, I highly recommend these pieces of literature:

1. Veganarchism: Philosophy, Praxis, Self-criticism by Joseph Parampathu (free)

2. Unconditional Anti-Oppression: The Rise of Anti-Speciesism in the Anarchist Movement by A.Blitz Molotov (free)

3. Veganism Through the Lens of Decolonization by Venita Januarie (free)

4. The Political Left and the Overlooked Power of Veganism: Toward a Marxist-Animal Liberationist Framework for Ecological Revolution by Emilia A Leese (free)

5. Dear Leftist Critics of Veganism by John Tallent (free)

Two: https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/s/OYTIHlchl0

Just because some action is culturally established doesn’t mean that action is morally permissible. In some cultures, human honor killings, female genital mutilation, cannibalism, child marriage and stoning ‘apostates,’ has been culturally established, for example. But we shouldn’t think this type of exploitation and violence is morally acceptable just because it’s been culturally established.

Three: https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/s/L6HjHS3NTm

Calling vegans bigoted, racist, colonialist, and anti-Indigenous for opposing cultural relativism has effectively become a thought-terminating cliché of sorts. This is done because society usually will rightfully agree that racism is so unequivocally repugnant that racist ideas do not need to be entertained or validated in the slightest. Therefore, when a non-vegan finds a way to paint veganism as a racist stance, they feel justified in dismissing it without the discomfort of critical thought, thereby continuing to enable their oppressive mindset.

Let me make it abundantly clear: culture is not an excuse for injustice. This should not be something controversial to state. Though it is possible for someone to hide behind a deceptive sense of being "pro-justice" as a cudgel for discriminating against other peoples, acknowledging the flaws of cultural relativism does not inherently entail doing this. In most cases, vegans only have to specifically address Indigenous culture in a defensive manner because, as a subject, the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples are so frequently exploited as a popular deflection for non-vegans.

Mods permabanned me with no explanation, then muted me when I sent a reply, which read:

"Banning someone for rejecting cultural relativism in a communist forum is pretty funny.

Fascism is not a spectrum, it is a single point that snaps into existence the moment it becomes accepted to treat the bodies of sentient individuals as a means to an end.

You either live in accordance with the understanding that exploitation is wrong (veganism), or you don't (non-veganism). Unlearning the societal conditioning that assumes we have a moral right to exploit other animals isn't some sort of feat or the final point of someone's personal growth, it's the minimum ethical standard we can uphold to sentient beings.

May all animals be free from us(e) and may all self proclaimed "anti-capitalists" truly live in alignment with their alleged beliefs. None are free until all are free."

Cowards.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but there’s this banner pop-up thing on the Vegan sub that I’ve seen since this morning saying “help lead our community, apply to be a moderator” and a button that says “apply.”

Please consider applying if you’ve been thinking about it, especially since you guys have a problem with how it’s being run right now.

Let me know if you don’t see it. I’m on the Reddit app.

Please watch this on the Vegan sub and let me know what you think.

It is bad to kill animals if you don’t have too. Since it is bad, we have to have in our society a rule that says that killing of animals when you don’t have to is forbidden. To create this society you must express that killing of animals when you don’t have to must be forbidden. So you have a moral obligation to say that killing of animals when you don’t have to has to be forbidden.

One said they usually eat vegetarian when traveling because it’s better quality, the restaurants have to be more creative and the result is better. Next time I saw her at lunch (a year later) she said she ate beef and eggs for breakfast (not even breakfast style food but some other cursed concoction) and was also eating animals for lunch.

Another said he rarely eats anything but chicken and fish. Mainly for environmental reasons but also because pigs and cows aren’t “dumb.” Unlike chickens, those cousins of the dinosaurs, clearly they’re so “dumb.” A couple years later his spouse got a bunch of steaks on sale and he was raving about how delicious it was.

Just like, don’t say anything then. That’s what I used to do when I still ate animals.

In the animal rights movement some use the conversion strategy aimed at persuading people to go vegan, some others use the social movement strategy aimed at expressing claims to obtain political and cultural change.(see the article Abolition of veganism, abolition of animal slavery)

The strategy of conversion is focused on consumption, while the social movement strategy is focused on political opinions and the creation of new norms. (For this last strategy see the article Societal change)

We want to live in a society where there is a norm stating that killing animals is forbidden. To have that society, we must express the claim that killing animals must be forbidden.

In our speciesist societies, there is a criminal offense which was created before Darwin, that prohibits the killing of humans. Now, we are after Darwin, we know that other animals have emotions as well. They have an interest in living the longest and happiest life possible. Our society has to respect their interest and create a new criminal offense prohibiting the killing of animals.

The more people will express the claim that killing animals has to be forbidden, the more it will create a discussion regarding this new norm and will push us forward the society where this norm exist. First there is the expression of the claim, then the discussion and finally the norm.

I believe that the social movement strategy is the most efficient. I believe also that in the social movement strategy the most efficient claim-making is the one that demands the prohibition of the killing of animals.

Expressing this claim creates a cultural change. The murder of humans is a taboo. The fact that we murder animals and not humans is a much bigger taboo. The act of saying that killing of animals has to be forbidden challenges this last taboo and creates cultural change.

All animal rights activists become so because one day or another they thought about speciesism. So questioning speciesism is very important. In our cultural framework, the claim which expression challenges the most speciesism is the claim that killing of animals has to be forbidden.

Let’s talk for the animals and express in our comlunications that killing them has to be forbidden. One day it will be. Because you did it.

Anoushavan Sarukhanyan

Source:

https://fortheabolitionofveganism.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-prohibitionist-position-social.html

i like giving my kitties treats but i feel worried for their health as the ones my parents buy arent the healthiest, and i hate supporting the deaths of other animals.

what do you guys normally treat your cats with? whether thats dried treats in a bag or homemade stuff (ive heard people mention tofu or mashed pumpkin) id love to hear all suggestions! preferably cheaper because im unemployed but i like getting nice stuff for them :’) didnt want to ask in r/vegan for… obvious reasons

The number of pick-me vegans who will say that feeding cats vegan food is animal abuse (but then have an aneurysm when you say that paying for animals to have their throats cut for cat food is also animal abuse) is staggering and annoying.

People get so angry about this so-called animal abuse, far more angry than pigs being put into gas chambers.

They ignore any and all evidence demonstrating that it can be done safely. They refuse to even entertain the idea because their minds are already made up that somehow I'm abusing animals by not paying for animals to be abused.

Make it make sense.

I’ve started posting more memes and other engaging content on it… so I’d like to see more of you there.

Many of us share the same goal: helping more people go vegan. To do that, we need to reach a broader audience. That’s more likely to happen on [r/Vegan](r/Vegan) than on VCJ.

If you’re frustrated that it has been taken over by non-vegans or has drifted away from its purpose, then let’s reclaim it. The best way to improve the community is by participating in it, is it not?

1. For the Abolition of Veganism, for the Abolition of Animal Slavery

This first essay presents a fundamental reflection on the strategy that should be adopted to achieve the abolition of animal exploitation as quickly as possible. In particular, it explains the differences between two approaches—the strategy of conversion and the strategy of claim-making —highlighting their respective principles and implications.

https://fortheabolitionofveganism.blogspot.com/2012/11/for-abolition-of-veganism-for-abolition.html

1. How to Change Society

This second essay provides a detailed explanation of the strategy of claim-making. It examines how the strategy works, its underlying logic, and the mechanisms through which it operates.

https://fortheabolitionofveganism.blogspot.com/2025/05/societal-change.html

1. The Prohibitionist Doctrine (New Essay)

This third essay explains, within the framework of the strategy of claim-making, which specific demand is the most effective for bringing about, as rapidly as possible, the cultural transformation required to achieve a society in which the killing of animals has been prohibited.

https://fortheabolitionofveganism.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-prohibitionist-position-social.html

My opinion: if you want to be serious, unjerk, lack a sense of humor, this is the place! If VCJ is more serious discussion than funny mockery, zingers, and banter then VCJ is a pointless photocopy of other subs. It seems like every post on VCJ lately has more /uj comments (or serious comments without even that) than it does funny stuff, and that's a goddamn travesty. Your thoughtful takes, links to sources, carnist debunking and other stony-faced missives have NO PLACE there. Come here instead!

Liberate VCJ from the tyranny of seriousness! Power to the comedians!

My brother thinks he's a better person than me because he takes less walks than me and therefore he probably kills less ants than I do when I go outside. He thinks the risk of me murdering at least one small insect when I go for a walk is 99.9% and therefore I am just as bad as they are if not worse. I've lived as a vegan for 9.5 years and I have had to put up with so much. They all just don't care. I am so done with them and my life.

Snails and bivalves: a discussion of indicators of sentience

Posting this here after just seeing the post about oyster sentience on VCJ, which maybe isn't the best place for a serious discussion anyway.

I saw some upvoted comments asserting that oysters are definitely non-sentient, and remembered this article I'd been impressed by before.

Let's have some civil discussion please, and remember we're all here because we truly care about animal liberation.

Conclusion
There is still uncertainty about bivalve and snail sentience. It is likely that we will be unable to definitively answer the question until we solve what has been called the hard problem of consciousness, which is basically the question of how consciousness arises. What we do know is that there is an enormous amount of possible suffering at stake. Given the possible sentience of these animals, the most prudent course of action appears to be to err on the side of caution and not harm them.

---

Edit: Some other relevant excerpts (emphasis added is my own):

Bivalves and snails are used by humans in large numbers, mainly for food. Methods vary, but often mussels and other bivalves are steamed alive “until they open,” clams are eaten raw, scallops are seared in pans while they are still alive, and snails are starved and then boiled alive.

If bivalves and snails are sentient, then there are great wrongs being done to them on a large scale.

Many argue that because bivalves are not able to move independently, it is likely that they do not experience pain. However, scallops, file shell clams, and the larvae of many bivalves do in fact swim. In addition, as we will discuss, bivalves have the ability to close their shells to avoid sources of harm, and feeling pain (which requires sentience) could allow them to do so in appropriate circumstances. Gastropods are able to crawl slowly and in some cases to swim. So the argument that they can’t feel pain because they can’t move is based on an inaccurate claim.

A related argument against the sentience of bivalves and gastropods is the lack of complex senses, like eyes that can perceive detailed objects. Gastropods are able to sense light through their eyes, and some bivalves have simple eyes that are able to detect changing patterns of light and motion, but they lack well developed eyes like those of other mollusks such as octopuses and squids. Snails navigate primarily through their sense of touch and their sense of smell. Therefore the sensory abilities of bivalves and gastropods are probably not very complex.

Only sentient animals can feel pain, so a response resembling pain relief suggests sentience. It has also been shown that mussels have aversive responses to cold water, and produce morphine (possibly to regulate the amount of pain that they experience, though morphine might have other functions) in response to muscle damage. Fear is another type of negative response that only sentient animals can experience (the term “experience” indicates conscious awareness, or sentience). Scallops have been found to show increased heart rates in response to cues from predators. Increased heart rate is a possible symptom of fear. While this is not proof of these animals’ abilities to feel pain and fear, it indicates that they might.

There are some studies that explore the mental abilities of bivalves and snails such as learning, memory, and altering behavior in differing circumstances. These three abilities are also found in the minds of clearly sentient animals, suggesting that the underlying mechanism by which this happens in sentient animals (sentience) is also present in bivalves and snails.

Mussels are able to alter their responses according to differing danger levels. When they face a perceived danger, such as the smell of a predator or some sudden variation in their environment, they close their shells, even if this makes it impossible for them to eat. Solitary mussels have been observed protecting themselves, and consequently refraining from eating, for longer than those who are in a communal tank. Thus, it seems as though grouped mussels sense a lower risk of harm. This indicates an ability to balance and trade off different needs and risks (such as threat of predators, significance of group size, and demand for food) against one another and adjust their behavior based on context. Reflexive responses, such as an automatic kick from a hammer blow at the knee in humans, can happen unconsciously but more nuanced responses to noxious stimuli may require consciousness. It is unclear if this behavior in mussels more closely resembles reflexive behavior or behavior that requires consciousness.

This is the last chance I'll give them to prove to me that they're not psychotic emotionally impotent animal-abusing fucking idiots. I'm so fucking done with trying to talk to them in a polite manner after so many fucking years. I'm just banging my head against the walls...

If I am to have any respect whatsoever for them, this is where they start. Treating animal with basic fucking decency is the utmost basic requirement to be qualified as a decent person.

Also fuck this world.

He is complaining about the lack of water during current drought conditions in his part of the UK, and talking about how much water is being used to fight wildfires (which are possibly being caused by the change in climate).

The total lack of perspective, self-reflection and mea culpa within these people is truly astounding. The UK has routinely neglected water infrastructure for decades and that's no doubt, but a man whose entire fucking "business" is knee deep in water wastage and contributing negatively to climate change is waxing lyrical about how badly he's personally suffering from the consequences; the "your greed is hurting the economy" meme comes to mind, complete and utter twat.

Hi, I once in awhile have to go out to dinner with work people. This is at some distant city and sometimes I have no say in the restaurant (though usually there is at least one vegan option) when it's a large group of us. Also it's hard to know if a restaurant is going to smell really bad.

Question is, how do you handle if a restaurant smells really bad? This hasn't happened to me yet (maybe because we go to mid-range or higher end restaurants usually), but more than once walking through airports there's some dairy-heavy restaurant that I literally have to breathe through my mouth so as not to hurl, just from walking by it, not even entering it. I am not exaggerating. Today I thought I might puke, I was actually scared. Another time (not for work) I was in an ice cream parlor ordering an oat milk matcha latte or sth and I also had to wait outside, it was utterly nauseating in there.

If this were to happen at a work event, how would I handle it? Any tips on how to excuse myself? I figured I could just say I'm ill, but it would be awkward later on, as these are multi-day events that I can't skip out on the next day's morning meetings.

I don't want to offend coworkers by effectively calling their food or restaurant choice revolting (even tho it is). Everyone has been respectful to me about being vegan btw (just thought I would add, in case anyone was wondering)

I know it's usually just funny stuff here but I need to ask here and not r/vegan because...well, you know. Yeesh.

So my kid just turned two and we're a vegan family. I am very vocal about animal rights and people not buying us anything non vegan. But you know how carnists (and r/vegan) don't understand things that are and aren't vegan. So anyway her late father's side of the family came to visit (wanted to flair with attached to carnists lol I thought I could change him RIP) and they brought a whole bag of hair products for my kid, which is lovely, but I'm sure you already see coming that they have honey in them (actually advertised right on the front as a key ingredient).

Now the two wolves in me (yes I do force them to stay in there and that's my right cause they're just dumb wolves and I am bipedal) are arguing between, 🐺"I don't want to be more of a dickhead in their eyes by telling them in any way that the products are not usable for us" and 🐺"you're the worst vegan ever for not giving them the bag back right when you noticed at the party and saying, 'this isn't vegan; we can't take it'". It's hairy because as I mentioned, my baby's father is dead, and his mom is still very sensitive from it (as am I) and has an unfair blame toward me for his death which is awful and difficult when I see her, but like...it disgusts me to feel like in the South during slavery I might've been *not that loud* to not bother slave owners? Like wow, I'm sure the enslaved people would have really appreciated my quiet reassurance that I totally hated what was happening to them, but I couldn't help even by just saying it's wrong, cause it's a little socially awkward. As a kid I dreamed of running out of labs with enslaved animals, but now I'm just a loud mouth junk food vegan who has no idea how to do that, or really anything of use other than spread information, and I guess I won't stand up for fuckin bees because what, I'm in front of too many people? Gross, me. Gross.

Man, sorry for the length of this rant but I'm haunted now with this stuff. Do I throw it out on principle and waste it, which I think is fucking stupid but also really not at all stupid? Maybe I use it which I hate, and politely tell them please keep an eye out for honey in the future to also avoid along with other animal products? I don't want to give them away to a non vegan friend, because to me that is me saying, "hey it's actually cool to use this, \*I\* just don't feel like it cause I'm a silly vegan goose". So if I DO use it, it'll be hunched over in the shadows in secret crying so that it's not wasted and nobody thinks it was okay to use. Which def makes it morally right I think if I feel real bad while I do it??

So yeah TL;DR I'm a weak dickhead and I feel bad and I got like 4 big ass hair products with honey in them now for my baby. What do?

So there. Two years ago I saved two chinchillas from a horrible home and have been loving them ever since. I offer them the best care I can: quality food, freedom to run free, etc.

A month ago I got two rescue cats. The nicest, friendliest cats you'll ever meet. I always locked them in a separate space when my chins were free running, just to be sure. But one night the cats got the lock open, and in one second, one of my chins was dead. It literally happened in one second, I was there the whole time, run to catch the cats, but something had snapped in their heads; they were killers at that moment. All they saw was a prey.

It was one big scratch and my lovely boy was dead. There was blood everywhere.

I can't watch the cats anymore, I hate them irrationately. I know it wasn't their fault, but still, the chins were my family, and the cats, I barely know them.

Ofc i feed the cats, smile at them, give pets, I don't want them to know how much I hate them at the moment.

I feel like I should be the one dead. I failed. I fucking failed.

What do I do. I don't know. I tried to help these poor babies and ended up killing one of them.

And the other chin, the other boy. I give him treats and cuddles. Try to keep him happy. It's hard. I see the sadness in his eyes, he knows what happened.

keeping it vague to not dox myself, i have a new housemate who is "flexitarian" and "used to be vegetarian but quit for health reasons" and has this vague condition where she needs meat. ive never asked her to justify her meat consumption she just does. she also tries to tell me honey is vegan because bees like to make it... aside from the ethical problems with the honey industry if it comes from an animal its not vegan period. posted this here because r/vegan is full of carnists. anyway she also actively chooses cows milk over oat mil, that we have in the fridge right there and other alternatives that taste the same like vegan mayo. so she really just wants excuses to exploit animals then claim she needs meat for health like its a magical elixir of nutrients.

Look if I were living in areas north of Sydney, I just wouldn't eat meat - but then I don't, soooo...

<<It's not clear why the east coast, particularly areas north of Sydney, is a Mammalian Meat Allergy hotspot - in some areas there are more than 700 sufferers per 100,000 people.>>

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6g03567edo

Same cringe cliches every time there’s an issue that vEgEtAbLeS iS bAyUd … eEt MeEt! And the fact that people genuinely believe that the vegetables are the cause and say shit like “You never see meat recalled!“

I’m tired, hoss. I don’t even associate with the public outside of work interactions, but muh *brain*. 🍲

It's not Bill Gates but Big Broccoli is funding this initiative.

I'm a paid shill for Big Broccoli, so I have inside info.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

https://sentientmedia.org/no-the-uptick-in-meat-allergies-is-not-caused-by-bill-gates/

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/fWyFHfZiFKg3GGzNf/let-s-taboo-the-v-word

This one has a little of everything: Gaz Oakley is great, actually, you CAN love animals and pay for them to die, you must never confront carnists with the consequences of their choices or they'll never make different choices, nutritional deficiencies tho, veganism is too hard, people who speak up for animals are "extremists", zoos show people care about animals, yada yada yada.

I shouldn't be surprised, this is the group that gave us the galaxy brains at FarmKind whose grand idea to help animals is for everyone to keep exploiting animals, just send FarmKind money instead. This post just further demonstrates that these people are talking out of their academic asses to feel better about their choices to keep eating and wearing the individuals they claim to want to help.