Vegans are often ridiculed, abused and written off as self-righteous extremists who like nothing more than to push their "beliefs" upon others. However, I wonder how many vegan-haters have actually stopped to consider the concept of veganism objectively, removing the emotional connection to their "entitlement" to have a personal choice to exploit animals?

Vegans do their very best to avoid exploiting animals in all regards. This includes not consuming any animal products in their diet, avoiding animal-derived clothing, not using cosmetics tested on animals, and steering clear of entertainment that exploits animals for human amusement.

The most compelling reason to become vegan is ethical. In 2012, the Declaration of Animal Consciousness was signed by some of the worlds leading scientists at Cambridge University. They declared that animals have conscious awareness and can experience affective states. This means that animals have the ability to experience feelings and emotions – they can feel pain, experience terror, and love just like we do as human beings. As such, when we exploit and slaughter animals, they have the capacity to comprehend what is happening to them. Can you imagine such terror? Would you subject yourself or your loved ones to such treatment?

With this in mind, vegans are the true moral bastions of society. They have made a conscious and logical decision, based on scientific facts, ethical analysis and human decency, that cultural traditions, religion, habit, and certainly taste buds, do not justify inflicting torturous cruelty upon a fellow sentient being. How is this something to ridicule, and not instead something to strive for, in a supposedly evolved and modern society?