ONLY 17 Dabawenyos signed up for a one-month vegan challenge while over a hundred participated in the information and education campaign (IEC) last December 29, 2018 at Rizal Park.
The event was organized by animal rights activist from Luzon Jofer Santos and other volunteer vegans from the city to demonstrate the positive impact of veganism on the animals, environment and human health.
Santos also showed the importance of animal rights.
“Sa Manila, matagal na itong ginagawa. Active na ang mga tao doon sa veganism. Activists all over the world have been doing the same type of activism for a few years now,” Santos said in a phone interview yesterday, January 2, 2019.
He added that only few people participated in the campaign probably because veganism is new in the city.
Santos explained that veganism is the practice of complete rejection not only of animal meat but also of animal by-products such as milk and eggs.
During the event, the participants showed animal cruelty videos and offered free vegan diet online consultation for a month to help those interested individuals shift to vegan diet.
“These individuals ultimately believe that it is very vital for every citizen of this planet to be informed about what really goes on inside slaughterhouses, factory farms, egg farms, among others, where animals are being abused, tortured and slaughtered all in the name of profit,” Santos said.
“It is the primary reason why they decided to take it to the streets and help people make the connection and encourage them to live a more compassionate life without expecting any monetary returns,” he added.
Santos said that he will stay in the city for two weeks more to put up a vegan information table in schools.
According to an international website Happy Cow, there is a list of 358 vegan and vegetarian restaurants all over the country. Fourteen of these are from Davao City.