Top 5 Ways to Help Animals During Lockdown

Lockdown has been going on for a while now. Nobody knows when we will be able to go back to our normal lives, let alone our vegan activist lives. If you want to stay active during this time, we’ve got some ideas for you.

Most people who are vegan and regularly organise or join outreach events do that because they know being out there and speaking to people about veganism saves animals’ lives.

Every single person who reduces or ideally stops eating animal products reduces abuse and suffering. With that in mind, it is especially frustrating not to be able to be out there, and some people can feel guilty thinking they are not doing enough for the animals during this time.

A lot of actions can still be taken to help animals now. With the rise of social media, online activism plays a huge role in animal rights advocacy. Don’t forget though, it is okay to not be advocating at this time if you’re feeling overwhelmed by this global crisis. Taking a break is absolutely fine and will help you to be an even stronger advocate for animals in the long run.

If you do want to stay active during this time, we’ve got some ideas for you:

1. Join our 3 in 4 campaign! 

Three in four of the world’s new or emerging infectious diseases come from animals. Responsible for nearly three million deaths a year, these diseases are largely transmitted through trading wildlife (legally and illegally) and factory farming.

• Share our campaign graphics on social media to reach even more people.
• Read our zoonosis report to learn more about the topic and be able to give people the full picture when you talk about zoonotic diseases.
• Order our new leaflets to hand out after lockdown.

2. Food activism also works from home

Whether it was Viva!’s one-of-its-kind vegan ice cream van tour where we handed out free ice cream to educate people about the horrors of the dairy industry, or our recent “No porkies” campaign where we gave out vegan hot dogs to speak to people about the suffering of pigs, one thing was clear: people are incredibly open to learning about veganism when they get delicious food in return. So why not do some food activism from home?

• Join and invite your friends to Viva!’s exclusive Facebook-live cookery demo. Feeling like you haven’t got the skills and knowledge to make delicious plant-based food can prevent people from committing to veganism. Viva!’s here to help!
• Always, but now more than ever, we want to support people and show them kindness. Why not make nice food, pack a little care package for your friends and leave it on their doorstep? Not having to worry about what to make for tea one day can be a big relief for some people. Our Vegan Recipe Club has all the inspiration you need with easy-to-follow recipes.
• And while you’re at it, why not take some nice pictures of your homemade food and share them on social media. Vegans and meat-eaters alike will feel inspired to get cooking.

3. Self-development

This global crisis affects everyone in differently. Some people feel very deflated. Others might have more time on their hands and are eager to learn new skills and gain new knowledge.

Knowledge is power. There are a lot of fantastic vegan books out there which can massively help you to improve your vegan advocacy and knowledge. Here are some examples:

• Dr. Melanie Joy’s books “Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows”, “Beyond Beliefs” and “Getting relationships right”
• Johnathan Balcombe’s “What A Fish Knows”
• Rich Hardy’s “Not As Nature Intended”
• Dr. Michael Greger is the go-to for health related knowledge. You can buy his books in our online shop.

High quality photos and videos play an important role in activism whether you’re filming some snippets of an outreach event or taking emotive photos of people watching factory farming footage. Why not use this time to brush up your video editing and photography skills. Canva is a useful tool for creating graphics.

4. Help to get the vegan message out there

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Order our posters and display in your window and put them up where possible.
• Fundraise for Viva! to help us keep fighting for animals. You could start a Facebook fundraiser or do a fundraising challenge among your friends and family for example running a marathon on your own or do an epic swim. You can find more ideas here.
• Donate while you shop at no extra cost by selecting Viva! as your charity on amazon smile.
• Support other vegans. Especially for new vegans, it can be difficult to stay on the wagon if they haven’t got support from others and feel isolated among meat-eaters. Be supportive of them on social media and offer your help.

5. ​​​​​​​​​​​​Focus on self-care to be in top form for after lockdown

We can only be sustainable advocates for animals if we look after ourselves.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Meditate or go for a nature walk.
• Stay connected with friends and family
• Be kind to yourself!