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A Pound of Flesh
A survey of 1202 Australians about whether they’revegetarian or vegan and what their attitudes to animals are.
The Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland Incorporated (VVSQ)http://vegsoc.org.auinfo@vegsoc.org.auFebruary 2010
CONTENTS
Chapters, sections and references are hyperlinked.
3.1 Are You A Vegetarian or Vegan? 11 3.2 What Do You Eat? 11 3.3 What Do You Do? 11 3.4 What’s Acceptable and What Isn’t 11 3.5 The Vegan Diet and Animal Farming 12 3.6 Reasons to Become Vegan 12 3.7 Farming Practices 13
4.1 Health 14 4.2 Farm Practices 15 4.3 Animal Skin (Leather) and Sheep Fur (Wool) 16 4.4 Animal Testing 17 4.5 The Environment 21 4.6 Horse Racing, Dog Racing, Circuses and Rodeos 22 4.7 Breeding Animals for Pet Shops 28 4.8 Zoos, Aquatic Parks and Aquariums 33 4.9 Pain and Intelligence 35 4.10 Vegetarians and Vegans in Australia 38 4.11 Vegetarians and Vegans Outside Australia 39 4.12 History and Growth 41 4.13 Conclusion 42
Front cover image by Cathe Holden from Just Something I Made,
Three Word Thursday
, 20/8/2009http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/2009/08/three-word-thursday_20.html The Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland Incorporated, 20 August 2010. Revision 8.Sponsored by Voiceless, the animal protection institute:http://www.voiceless.org.auWith a generous contribution from Bio-Distributors:http://www.biodistributors.com.au Creative Commons Licence: Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (cc by-nc-nd).
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1Preliminary
Background
The survey was conducted by phone from 21to 23 August 2009.Its goal was to nd out:1) how many vegetarians and vegans thereare in Australia2) people’s attitudes to animals. The survey was run by Newspoll Sydney with arandom, representative sample of 1202 peopleacross Australia. Further details about how itwas conducted are provided in section
. The survey was run for the Vegetarian/VeganSociety of Queensland. Questions wereformulated by the Society in conjunction withNewspoll.Voiceless, the animal protection institute,funded the survey with a generouscontribution from Bio-Distributors in Tasmania.
Denitions
Vegetarian
- Someone who doesn't eatanimal esh of any kind - including sh andother water animals - but eats milk productsand/or eggs. More loosely, a vegetarian issimply someone who doesn't eat animal esh– that is, s/he may or may not eat milkproducts/eggs.
Vegan diet
– A diet free of animal esh of anykind - including sh or other water animals -as well as milk products or eggs.
Vegan
- Someone who, out of concern foranimals, avoids using animal products forfood, clothing or other purposes.
Note:
Being vegetarian out of concern foranimals poses a conict, since animals used toobtain milk and eggs often suer considerablyand are normally killed at the end of theirproductive lives. Male chicks are also typicallykilled as part of the egg production process.
5 Main Capital Cities
- Sydney, Melbourne,Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth.
Introductory Notes
Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. The language in the survey uses terms thatare in common use, some of which mask theirrelation to animals. Newspoll recommendedusing these terms, as they're clearlyunderstandable for most people. The Society accepts this, but not what theyimply: that animals are property to be used forwhatever purposes are legal. The terms don'treect that animals are creatures with theirown lives. Instead they obscure animals,reducing them to commodities.For example, the esh of animals, typicallyland animals, used as food, is referred to as'meat.' Mother's milk meant for very younganimals, usually calves, but used as humanfood instead is often called 'dairy.' Liveanimals intended for use as food are'livestock.' Water animals used as food are'seafood.' The treated skin of animals, usuallycows, used for a range of purposes such asshoes and clothing, is 'leather.' The fur of sheep is ‘wool’, also used for a variety of purposes such as clothes. The survey questions also use the expression'vegan lifestyle.' An ethical commitment is atthe core of being vegan, however a lifestyledoesn't necessarily have an ethical componenteg 'party lifestyle', 'outdoor lifestyle.'In this sense it may have been clearer to justrefer to being vegan, or perhaps a veganphilosophy or approach.Given our sample size of 1202 adults and anestimated adult population of 16,364,000, wecan be 95% certain that the results for the fullsample (of 1202 people) are within + or -3%. The error range is higher for the various sub-groups such as men, women and age ranges,and varies up to 7%.When comparing two groups, however, suchas men and women, only statisticallysignicant results have been reported – thatis, results outside error ranges.
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