Update

I have not posted anything here since 2017 beause It's when I founded the website Ethos & Empathy and the articles I am writing ever since, can be found over there.

If you want to read them, here is the link.

I would like to say that the things I am writing in the last blog post here, are things with which I no longer agree since the activists I am referring to "evolved" to vegan celebrity activists who are living throught donations of people and on a high cost to the planet. They invest this money to travel throughout the world in order to do street activism, even though it is known that this method is not effective, as you can read here. They promote vegan options of huge corporations such as KFC and Burger King and they never talk about human rights, ecology or other types of oppression.

I wish people could read between the lines and stop idealizing these "activists".

Veganism is not the top. Veganism is just a moral baseline.

If we stop evolving, ef we stop educating ourselves, if we stop trying become better and we think that we reached the point of perfectionism, then we are screwed.

Veganism and its psychological cost

       Last night I discovered one more passionate activist for animals rights, Joey Carbstrong. Among the videos he is uploading on his personal channel on You tube, he has one video from a Halal slaughterhouse ( Halal means clean in Arabic and it;s the only way of killing an animal which is accepted by Muslims in order to eat the meat of an animal. This way of slaughtering is taking place without stunning the animal - not that when the animals are stunned they get anesthetized or don't feel the pain, but like this they can't move so it's more to facilitate the slaughterer than for the comfort of the animal). Which of course I did NOT watch because I am not as strong as activists like him are...who are able to enter slaughterhouses and dairy industry premises in order to expose what is going in there - hoping that people will wake up and make the connection (just like I woke up, by watching the first 20-30 minutes of Earthlings)...

        However I watched the video he uploaded after this horrendous experience because he received many messages from followers who were worried about him, asking if he is suffering from PTSD , how will he recover after being witness to something like that etc. I also decided to watch 2 more video of his which are showing rescued farm animals. Pigs and cows, ducks, sheep, goats, hens, turkeys...Animals which - as the owner of the sanctuary stated - we must call as survivors. Because they indeed are survivors of a holocaust that is taking place everywhere, on a daily basis, next to us and no one is talking about it.

       No one except us - the activists, the vegans who we are - in the eyes of an average person - unbalanced, oversensitive, extreme etc.

       And in case the comparison to the holocaust is something you consider inappropriate or extreme, watch what a survivor of the Holocaust has to say about the first time he saw a slaughterhouse (and since then he has been dedicated to the fight for animals rights)

      Below you can read several quotes from some Holocaust survivors / people who lost family during the Holocaust:

Why should I neuter my pet?

How many times have we heard people saying that they hesitate to neuter their pets? How many times have we heard people arguing they don't want to go against nature by having them neutered? And how many times have we found puppies or kittens in trash cans by the same exact people saying these things?

Unfortunately, the answer for all these questions is "Way too many."

This is why I have decided to make here a list of all the reasons that ALL those who have pets MUST neuter them.

Neutering is by no means inhumane; instead it is an act of responsibility and a humane intervention to the normal development of your pet's life. This intervention is simple, painless and harmless.

On the long term it is the best for everyone in the family but mostly for the pet itself. I should hereby point out that all service and working dogs including guide dogs for the blind, therapy dogs, rescue dogs hearing dogs for the hearing impaired etc have been neutered in all cases!

Why should I neuter my companion pet?

To begin with, so as to narrow down the increase of stray animals that already exist in the streets ending up in brutal deaths.

But you will argue... "I will find responsible people to adopt the babies".

Yeah... sure, OK. But how can you be so sure that there won't be 8 or 10 puppies / kittens? And how consciously will all these people adopt the offspring of your pet? Do they all know what it means to adopt an animal?

Or are they under the impression that by buying a doghouse to which they will tie up their dog and throw some food at it every day then everything will be OK?

Because sadly people who do exactly these things are WAY TOO MANY... In fact, those people who simply leave them at their homes' gardens or even worse at their holiday homes' garden all alone during most of their lives, with no love and attention whatsoever are even more.

Not to mention that taking care of animals doesn't simply mean providing food and shelter but also vaccinating them on a yearly basis, de-worming or de-parisiting, blood tests etc.

Neutering benefits your pet

Hormonal activity on non neutered animals leads to bad mental and physical attitude and negatively affects its behavior – given that effectively, it’s nothing more than just unfulfilled estruses.

In addition, neutering makes animals’ life easier alongside humans, as there are no longer issues with females’ dirty spots during their menstrual cycles, there are no longer tendencies of running away as well as no more pissing for territory marking for male cats and dogs. This also causes an exceptionally bad smell to their tail and other body parts that are sprayed in the process, which is difficult to remove. Finally, the animals’ nervousness and aggressiveness is also taken out.

Problems with non-neutered (spayed) female animals

Non-neutered female animals are in danger of suffering several health issues which if not diagnosed early, can be fatal:

-Pseudocyesis
-Pyometra
-Breast cancer
(there is actually a mathematical loop that shows the possibility of a female animal getting breast cancer in connection with her estruses and births. The more estruses and births, the larger the possibility for her to get breast cancer.)
-Uterus and ovaries cancer

Thus, neutering of female animals shouldn’t take place only in case that his owner wishes to have her mate with a male animal in order to give birth to new puppies or kittens.
In any other case, neutering should take place two months after her first estrus (and appearance of blood) so as to drastically reduce the possibility of getting breast cancer and in the future to totally remove the possibility of getting pyometra and additionally uterus and ovaries cancer.

When numbers speak:

-It should be noted that female dogs have estrus twice a year lasting three weeks while female cats have estrus thrice a year lasting seven to twenty days. Therefore, if you don’t neuter your female dog or cat and if those who will adopt their puppies or kittens do not in turn neuter them and consequently their own puppies or kittens, then you would do well to remember these numbers:

-During the first six years of your female dog and her puppies, approximately 67, 000 new puppies will be born.
-Within 7 years, a female cat and her kittens will be possibly able to deliver no less than 420.000 kittens!

Problems with non-neutered male animals:

Selective empathy: The ethical schizophrenia of our times

It's been a long time of deep thinking about selective empathy.

It is very important for me to finally express the thoughts that keep coming in mind almost daily, the questions that stay unanswered and the conclusions I may have done until now.

Veganism

Veganism is growing exponentially throughout the world (ex. 360% raise in 10 years in Britain) so this means that a new international community is emerging and it needs to be respected because veganism is a protected belief under the Article 9 of the European Convention for the protection of Human rights.

But what exactly is veganism? It's a lifestyle that avoids all animal foods such as meat, dairy, eggs and honey, animal derived products like leather and as far as possible, products tested on animals. The Vegan Society's formal definition is "veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food,clothing or any other purpose".

Do you find this extreme? I am sure that it makes sense to everyone when they read that. Then why vegans are considered as extremists, terrorists or crazy? My personal opinion is because they are showing the ugly truth of our society's killed values. This makes people who still follow the lifestyle that they have adopted or even obeyed without ever questioning it, to feel guilty and (especially the ones among them who consider themselves as animal lovers) extremely uncomfortable as well.

How to change the way you look at all the stuff...

There are some documentaries, some songs (like the Sunscreen) and some movies (like Amelie) that can have such an influence on our personalities that no school could do so.

One of those is the "Story of stuff" that I watched back on July of 2009 during an eco-volunteering trip I was doing with the amazing team of Pelagos Institute . This documentary lasts only 20 minutes but it makes you understand that recycle is not the answer. Nor the solution. Consuming wisely is.
Even though it focus on U.S where over-consumption is indeed a big issue, still, Europe unfortunately "follows" its "example" so it talks overall about western society's stuff stories.

Do we ever think how each and every stuff we get to buy has been produced/transported etc? Do we ever think about the stuff we tend to throw away so easily? Where do they come from and where do they go?

A Hellenic woman for the refugees in Lesvos

Yesterday I fell asleep around 6.00 in the morning (so it was actually today). 

I was answering  messages of people that want to come and volunteer in Lesvos. 

Last night I went out for the first time since a LONG time, in Athens, with some nice women that are also volunteering...

I felt for the first time less of an alien since I came back from Lesvos. 

I felt happiness, sympathy and understanding.

I did not have to feel guilty for checking my phone every now and then and answer to refugees & volunteers' queries and update myself regarding how many NON Syrians, Afghans & Iraqis are stuck in our borders.

Why did I feel like an alien since I came back though?

Well because in Athens, life goes on (!) as if there are no people dying in our Greek seas...

People go to their jobs, youngsters are out with their friends...the neighbors keep throwing their rubbish in my bin, friends are still asking me when we will go for a coffee....bills need to be paid, sun is shining and I am the only one stuck in time, memories and hardcore experiences that I went through my 2 missions.

I hit my knee and I start crying like a baby, "what is wrong with  me", I was wondering?

I  was waking up and I realized that I was dreaming of the camps in Skala Sykamnia & OXY and of the people walking on the streets of Lesvos. THIS ENDLESS WALK. Hundreds of people walking by the side of the road, hungry, thirsty, exhausted....Some of them get even some rest without caring if someone may hit them with the car...

I don't know how many bananas, apples, water bottles and salty snacks I gave away during the first mission in Lesvos. 

I only know that the money run out so fast under these circumstances.....that you thank God for having a credit card able to pay the big supermarkets.

YOU ONLY THINK ABOUT BUYING MORE FOOD AND GIVE TO ALL OF THEM. 

You FORGET about the CRISIS in GREECE.... You realize you are OK as long as you have a house to stay, freedom of speech and food to eat. As long as your country is not bombed every day...

                            

           

Animal ethics

I just watched the excellent documentary The Ghosts In Our Machine .

Where to begin? The list of animal exploitation is so long.

Animal farming ( for fur, leather, meat and dairy products)

Dog & Cat illegal breeding (known as puppy and kitty meals)

Marine mammals in captivity for humans entertainment (and not for educational reasons)

Circuses (still on 2014)

Animal testing for cosmetics, medicine and research

Illegal owners of exotic animals such as monkeys, snakes, leasards, degus, prairie dogs, hedgehogs, wildcats and the list goes on....

Who gave us the right to take advantage of ALL non human animals?

How many of the people that call themselves animal lovers actually are considering the animals before buying cosmetics, cleaning products or food?

How can you love a dog and eat a pig?
What discriminates these two species?

Many people call Asians weirdos when they listen about the dog farms where they slaughter them in order to sell their meat in delicatessen restaurants. What makes them better? Is a cow or a pig lower than a dog?

Should I mention the bullfights in Spain, France and Portugal?

Or the number of goats killed during Easter time in Greece? And then the number of them which have NOT been consumed?

Should I open Pandora's box regarding whales' hunting in Japan?

All these people who sleep with their dogs and cats but enjoy hot dogs and chicken ribs twice a week did they ever though about what was this pig/chicken before becoming their meal?

All these women with the tiny dogs in their bag do they know how their UGG boots are made?

Not to mention the thousands of people visiting zoos and aquariums just because they 'love animals' and want to see them from close.

I accept the fact of lack of education.

What I do NOT accept is the fact of people that know about these issues but continue living the same way, continue considering themselves animal lovers because they have a dog or a cat.