Animal protection in a vegan ecovillage in France : Eotopia

Each year, 65 billion animals are killed to satisfy our food needs and 140 million animals are dismembered for their fur which is sold all over the world. In parallel, Sandrine, a resident in the vegan ecovillage Eotopia in France, advocates for the animal cause since her younger age. In her testimony, she’s explaining us how she became aware of this animal slaughtering and what she’s doing today in her daily life to fight for this animal cause.

How did your engagement for the animal cause start?

Since my youngest age, I’ve always been asking to my parents why we were eating animals. I didn’t understand why they were finishing their life in our plates. People were telling me that they were not suffering, that their death was fast and necessary in order for us to eat and be in a good shape. I was not convinced and this is why I decided to investigate on my own. I quickly discovered that it was wrong. In the slaughterhouses, the death process is slow. In average it lasts 15 seconds and of course the animal is suffering a lot. This is how I’ve firstly decided to become vegetarian and to stop eating meat. Then, I kept on researching about everything that was related to the animal cause and I slowly and naturally became a vegan.

What are your convictions today? What makes you go further in your engagement for the animal cause?

With my vegan way of life, I slowly realized that it was a political issue. Being vegan on my own wouldn’t make any real difference. In order to create a real and measurable impact, the fight for the animal cause would need to be placed right in front of people eyes. The debate should be carried and discussed on the public and politic stage, both nationally and internationally.
Therefore, I’ve decided to join and to be militantly in favor of the Association L214. Thanks to this association, the fight against speciesism and for the animal cause became more popular. People are slowly opening their eyes on the reality of breeding, fishing and slaughterhouses.

Aside from my engagement with the Association L214, I’ve also written books and organized diverse events with artists to spread as much as possible our mission.

How is your life at Eotopia in line with the animal cause?

Eotopia is a vegan ecovillage. It’s a community of people that are 100% open and dedicated to the world that surrounds us. We welcome also any visitors that are willing to discover veganism in order to introduce them to this new way of living. At the same time, it allows us to communicate our convictions and to have a better impact. At Eotopia, we decided to dedicate one hectare to save animals like hens from breeding. Our hens would be able to feel completely secure and free here. We would like to have cows and sheep as well but at the moment we don’t have enough space with our permaculture garden. Through this initiative, we would like to show and prove that our current relation with animals should be different. We want to make people understand that animals are not here to be exploited until death by human race. We want to show everyone that a better and more natural balance can be found between us. A balance where both humans and animals give and receive equally without any of them being exploited… More people can tie relationships with animals and less they will consider them as pure consumption objects. Witnessing hens plucked and sick and then seeing them getting better and climbing trees completely free is amazing. Seeing animals that are truly happy and living a great life makes you also happy.

To learn more

– Eotopia, a vegan ecovillage (in French for the moment)
– L214 association