Brittany Sievers received FVA’s Courageous Activist Award, for her daily actions promoting vegan living, reporting animal abuse and helping animals. Here’s more from Brittany on how she takes action and spreads her passion for animals. What an inspiration!!
First, I am always up for a conversation about a vegan lifestyle and how it can really help people live longer, healthier, and happier! Like I mentioned my mother was so smart and had studied and read so many books that when my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 12 years ago, she did not settled for doctors just giving him medicine. She knows how powerful the meat and dairy industry are and that doctors will be by the book and not suggest a vegan diet. She saved his life!
What I have done recently is actively protest the Iditarod by standing with signs and getting others to sign petitions against companies that support it.
I am a monthly donor to both PETA and the Humane Society.
I always call the police when I see animal abuse. Just recently a woman was panhandling with her daughter. I didn’t want to ruin her day by reporting the panhandling. I simply reported animal abuse as the child with a kitten sat in a chair next to her and lifted the cat up off the ground by the leash essentially strangling the kitten, then watched her throw it in the air and drop it.
I often walk up to strangers in the grocery store and show them my favorite vegan products that are better for you, the environment, and of course the animals.
I have reported a pet store recently where I had the police involved to check on their animals. It’s a new store in Nokomis called Petsense. They had a Hermann’s tortoise in such a small enclosure, with no information on how to take care of it if purchased. I was persistent. I went in every day for weeks, asking if the team was trained on how to educate a customer who would end up purchasing this tortoise. I fought so hard I eventually got them to put up sheet protectors on each animal’s cage stating the needs, the proper enclosure, age they can be expected to live, and diet information. That to me was a huge win. My goal is to stop the sale of animals in pet stores all together.
I constantly, carefully, tell people what really goes on in slaughter houses and that titles like “free range” or “cage free” doesn’t mean what it sounds like. I inform other that the dairy and meat industries are allowed to lie on their packaging. They are so, so powerful. They convinced us we all need milk from a cow to be healthy. We are not baby cows! But that is how powerful they are.
Whenever I see a notification from my security system about a lost dog, I hop in my car immediately and go search.
My other very proud moment regards the gopher tortoise. A protected species that really had no protection or literature on beaches or other places they live. I contacted FWC and asked that they put up signs at Nokomis beach, Venice beach, Caspersen beach, as far as they could. And they did it!! Wow that felt amazing.
I am also a volunteer for FWC and participate in walking land that is to be built on looking for and marking tortoise burrows. This is HARD work but so worth it. I also transport tortoises for FWC to relocation sites up in the northern parts of Florida. Which to me is a huge responsibility driving a state vehicle filled with precious protected tortoises.
I am also becoming a dog trainer as I have gone through trainings and offer my services at no cost, while I gain my hours. And it feels great helping people give their dog a better life!
I constantly post vegan information on my Instagram and have had so many people reach out to me saying they are ready, that my posts inspire them, and how I can help them get started!
-Brittany Sievers
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