A few weeks ago, my husband and I attended a comedy fundraiser for a local animal charity.  Since it started at 8:00, we figured it would be an after-dinner event with cocktails. So we were surprised to find ourselves in a banquet hall filled with people being served a full course dinner.

Given that this was an animal fundraiser, one might expect the menu to be at least vegetarian. After all, the irony and incongruity of needlessly harming and consuming some animals while raising money to help others seems too obvious to even have to mention.

Obvious maybe, but clearly overlooked -  as there was an animal on every dinner plate.

Randy Pausch once said, “When there is an elephant in the room, introduce him.” And in a way, that’s what happened next. The first comedian began his routine with…drum roll… a bit about vegans. I won’t try to repeat his jokes here, but the material was predictably negative and mean-spirited.

My first thought was that we were being punked.  I mean, honestly…who thinks to invite people to eat animals at a fundraiser designed to help animals – and then pokes fun at those of us who actually care enough about animals to keep them off our plates?

I started to get annoyed, but then chose to look at it from a positive angle instead. Just by mentioning the word “vegan,” the audience was invited to think for a moment about people who, out of compassion for animals, choose not eat them.  The people attending this event presumably care about animals, and it’s quite possible that the mention of veganism in the context of an animal fundraiser might have made them suddenly (uncomfortably) aware of the animals at the end of their forks.

By talking about veganism – even disparagingly – the comedian had introduced the elephant in the room. That which had been conveniently invisible (the arbitrary division between the animals we choose to help and those we choose to harm for our enjoyment) was suddenly made visible. Sure, I could be reading into it, but I did sense a level of discomfort in the room. And tellingly, his jokes fell flat.  There were a few polite, nervous-sounding chuckles (and one woman shouting out about her ex-vegan ex-husband) but for the most part, the crowd was still.

The thing about the elephant in the room is once you’ve see him, it’s hard to un-see him. True, even after “seeing the elephant,” most of us continue to go on as before: compartmentalizing animals according to our desires.  These animals are for pets, those are for dinner. These are to be protected, those are to be trained to perform for our entertainment. These we hunt, those we help. But such an illogical framework cannot hold forever. Beliefs and behaviors that depend on willful ignorance and denial can (and should) be challenged.  And every “elephant spotting” presents such an opportunity.

I believe it’s inevitable that people who truly care about animals (and I optimistically believe most people fall into that category), will eventually start making the connection between the dogs, cats, horses, dolphins, tigers and elephants we choose to protect, and the pigs, chickens, turkeys, lambs, cows and fishes we choose to needlessly harm. This connection will be fostered by a mosaic of cultural influences: undercover videos, books, personal relationships with people who’ve gone vegan, news stories, artwork, vegan outreach programs, and yes – even anti-vegan comics.

More and more people are awakening to the grim realities of animal agriculture, and learning how choosing plant-based foods can create a kinder, more sustainable model for feeding the world’s burgeoning population. Our collective consciousness and compassion is being raised, and I hope animal charities will rise with that tide rather than continue to try and ignore it. The elephant in the room isn’t going to go away, so we might as well invite him to join us at the table for a (vegan) bite to eat.

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