Since it is World Vegan Day, I thought I would tell a little story on how I (Tiffany) went vegan. I would say that I went vegan in a very different way, although everybody has interesting stories on how they changed their lifestyle for the better. This all happened when I was 18 years old when I graduated high school. I knew ever since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a farmer, that I wanted to be around animals. Now even though I was not vegan at all, I knew I did not want to be like a cattle/poultry or pig farmer because I knew that they “had” to kill their animals. I decided I would then be a dairy farmer, because I thought that dairy farmers did not harm their animals, yet alone slaughter them.
I moved to Vermont at 18 years old all by myself, I got a job in the local town and rented a ski house from a family friend. My dream was to be a dairy farmer so I made it a goal to go to all the local dairy farms to hopefully get a job.
I ended up going to this local dairy farm, where they had a farm store, and had a lot of farm animals. To my knowledge at the time, they only had cows and a few horses.
I went into the adorable farm store, and heard squealing from behind the counter. Baby piglets. My heart exploded, I have never seen an animal so cute in my entire life. I asked if there were more since the lady said that this box of piglets are being sold, and she said yes. She told me where to go to see the rest of the litter so I went there by myself.
This was not what I was expecting to see. This was not what I visioned all of my life. This was not what I thought a local farm was supposed to be like. I was heartbroken.
There was a massive muddy pit with a few bigger pigs, and 2 day old piglets. Most of the piglets were drowning in their own feces. The mother pig looked miserable. There was no fresh water. No clean spot to lay down. There were dead baby piglets. I was horrified.
So, I remember I facetimed my mom and sister and showed them and they honestly were like oh my goodness take one. But, Im sure they weren’t serious.
Well, I definitely rescued one. I grabbed her with my bare hands, apologized to all of the others for not being able to rescue them, and put her in my car and drove home.
Anyways, I would love to write a book about my entire experience raising a newborn piglet all by myself with no previous knowledge on anything. Maybelle lived inside for many months, and she is still on the sanctuary today. She taught me so much. She is just as smart and loving as the family dog that I grew up with. She is no different.
I then, went vegan and I wish I went sooner.
P.S. Along this beautiful journey I met a handsome man who went vegan and is now my husband.