Why I Became Vegan | Larry Weiss

I am an attorney and for the last 30 years I have been working on animal protection and environmental issues. Why did I become vegan? There are so many reasons why people do anything: accident, evolution, a promise, a moment of absolute honesty. All of these played a part in my adopting a vegan lifestyle.

I developed a criminal law practice in my early years as an attorney but by the early 1980s I wanted to do something that was more fulfilling spiritually, to be part of something larger than myself, something new and kind. I began to hear about animal rights. I read a book called “Animal Liberation” by Peter Singer and it was new, strange and revolutionary. It struck me that if I could catch this wave right at its onset I could make a difference. I believed then (and now) that animal exploitation is one branch of a much larger tree, domination, which also manifests as racism, sexism, colonialism. All the isms.

I believed that if our view of animals evolved to one of respect, then everything would be different. So I began to practice animal law which hardly existed at the time. Since my background was in criminal law I defended many animal activists. My first animal case involved five defendants. They were extremely dedicated, idealistic people and I loved working with them. During a break in the court proceedings we went out for lunch and I was starting to order something that included meat. They all looked at me strangely. It was a moment of truth. I knew I could not represent them, speak for them, if I was living a lie at lunchtime. So I changed my order to a vegetarian selection and that was the first step on my road to veganism. After that it was step by step – cheese being the hardest – but I never looked back after that day.

I was not going to let my stomach run my ethics. The earth, the animals and my health were all on one side. On the other side was “yum, this tastes good.” Veganism is something we can all do. It doesn’t take a court victory, an act of Congress, or a lot of money. I chose the earth then and I do so every day.