I’m a social worker. I’m trained to advocate for people who can’t advocate for themselves. I’ve worked with men, women and children who have been victims of violent crimes. I’ve worked with homeless people, severely mentally ill people, incarcerated people, people with multiple addictions, people who have attempted suicide or are considering suicide, you name it, I’ve seen it (just kidding, I’ve barely scraped the surface of what is out there). I have learned a lot from all of the people I have worked with and found my work very rewarding.
But something strange has been happening….

About a year ago, I hosted a Dream Board gathering at my house. I knew I wanted lots of photos of healthy food and women running, swimming and biking. (I wanted to do a triathlon and I have completed two so far). My board reflected my triathlon goals as well as my goals for continuing to eat a healthy vegan diet. As I flipped through the magazines with my friends I saw a few pictures of cows. My initial reaction was,

“Don’t do it Angela, don’t put a damn picture of a cow on your dream board”.

What would it mean if I put a picture of a cow on my dream board? Would I actually have to do something for cows? If I put a picture of a cow on my dream board then it meant I was committed. Committed to do something more than read a bunch of books and blogs about veganism and plant based eating. I would have to do more than repost stories and pictures on Facebook (which no one wants to see) of cows having their calves torn away from them so humans could consume their milk. I would have to do more than let a bunch of ideas about how to open peoples eyes to the cruelty of our food choices rattle around in my head and take no action.

So I did it…

My last picture was one of a cow. I just had to do it. I hesitantly added it at the bottom of the board. A few weeks later while in a toy store with my kids I spotted a bowl of mini rubber farm animals. I sifted through and found a cow. It has been in my change purse ever since.

Yep, this was getting serious.

I never thought I would find myself advocating for cows but now it seems that I will be using my training as a Social Worker to do just that. It would be a lot easier if the particular species I felt so drawn to was a dog, cat, horse or some endangered wild animal. Lots of people could jump on that bandwagon and already have.

I’m sure there are others out there who feel just as passionate about helping cows. Who are you? Where are you? Lets create a Conscious Moo-vement!