This was in the news a little while ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6083468.stm
Though I didn't see it at the time. On Sunday, as we were walking through St. James's park, my boyfriend joked about seeing the pelican eating another pigeon. As we neared the lake - it happened. It was horrible. The pelican just snapped up the pigeon, but then struggled with it for an eternity, with the poor pigeon flapping to get away, but it couldn't. Loads of people were pointing and taking pictures, but not one person tried to help. I don't know what they could have done, mind you. I threw bits of flapjack at the pelican to try to distract it, and my boyfriend tried splashing it, but it didn't work - the pelican just moved away, still fighting with the pigeon. Though we did soak a stupid lady taking pictures with a very expensive camera. The pelican eventually managed to choke back the pigeon, I think it was still alive though.
One upside to the story is that I now can't stomach the thought of meat. I was vegetarian for years, then briefly vegan, but through my own laziness gradually drifted back to omnivory. However silly it sounds, seeing the pigeon struggle for life has opened my eyes again. My heart is heavy when I think about the suffering other animals endure for the sake of food, and how for the past few months I have ignored it.
So, I'm back. We'll see how we go. Perhaps I should go to the New Veggie forum and introduce myself, second time around?
![Image]()
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6083468.stm
Though I didn't see it at the time. On Sunday, as we were walking through St. James's park, my boyfriend joked about seeing the pelican eating another pigeon. As we neared the lake - it happened. It was horrible. The pelican just snapped up the pigeon, but then struggled with it for an eternity, with the poor pigeon flapping to get away, but it couldn't. Loads of people were pointing and taking pictures, but not one person tried to help. I don't know what they could have done, mind you. I threw bits of flapjack at the pelican to try to distract it, and my boyfriend tried splashing it, but it didn't work - the pelican just moved away, still fighting with the pigeon. Though we did soak a stupid lady taking pictures with a very expensive camera. The pelican eventually managed to choke back the pigeon, I think it was still alive though.
One upside to the story is that I now can't stomach the thought of meat. I was vegetarian for years, then briefly vegan, but through my own laziness gradually drifted back to omnivory. However silly it sounds, seeing the pigeon struggle for life has opened my eyes again. My heart is heavy when I think about the suffering other animals endure for the sake of food, and how for the past few months I have ignored it.
So, I'm back. We'll see how we go. Perhaps I should go to the New Veggie forum and introduce myself, second time around?
