30/08/2026
If your eyes cannot stomach the truth, perhaps it’s not good for your conscience or stomach.
At our latest Vegan Action Brisbane outreach, KC spoke with a young man who stopped to watch the hidden reality of slaughterhouses and animal farming.
His reaction was immediate.
He cringed as frightened animals appeared on the screen. He recoiled watching chicks being dropped into a macerator. Again and again, his face changed as he witnessed animals experiencing fear, suffering and death.
It was a visceral reaction.
And perhaps we should pay more attention to those reactions.
Because if your eyes cannot stomach watching what an animal must endure, how can we justify making that animal endure it for our stomach?
We have become remarkably good at separating the animal from what eventually appears on our plates.
We don’t see the fear.
We don’t hear the cries.
We don’t watch the final moments.
And most importantly, we don’t have to.
But when that curtain is pulled back, something very human can happen.
Empathy.
KC didn’t condemn this young man. He spoke with him kindly and gave him the opportunity to think through what he was seeing and what his own values meant for the animals affected by his choices.
By the end of their conversation, he committed to going vegan.
As the conversation finished, he appeared to be fighting back emotion.
Perhaps that’s the lesson.
If seeing what happens to them hurts you, don’t train yourself to feel less.
Don’t look away.
Don’t bury the discomfort.
Don’t search for an excuse to make the feeling disappear.
Change the reason they are suffering instead.
Sometimes that uncomfortable feeling isn’t guilt that needs to be silenced.
It’s compassion asking you to act. 🌱
Vegan Action Brisbane
