“Why Vegan?” Interview with Anna Bonifert (vegan), Part 1 of 2

Anna Bonifert is one of the best-known Hungarian vegan animal activists. She is the author of several books and articles on animal welfare and veganism, including “Why Vegan?: Questions about veganism you haven’t dared to ask yet,” which was published in 2014.

“My big dream was the ‘Book of Animal Rights Activists.’ I have always wanted to become a writer, but I have never been interested enough in any topic to sit down and write about it until we came to animal protection, veganism. And I was so interested in it that I could write a book about it from beginning to end.”

“My third book is the counterpart of this book. It is ‘I Will Become Vegan’ and in parentheses says, ‘A handbook for beginners.’ It tends to give practical help for becoming vegan. So, the first one persuades, it tries to give the reasons, and the second one tries to give the know-how. So, it tries to help those who want to become vegan, but who do not know how yet. And both of these can be downloaded in PDF from the Vegan Animal Rights Activists website.”

“I highly recommend everybody to start saving poultry, geese, chickens. It is best if one has a garden. But it can be done even in an apartment. You need to invest some energy, you need to pay attention, you need to change your life a little bit. But it is still better for them than to go to the slaughterhouse.”

Anna lives with 15 animals, some of whom she rescued from animal farms. She tells us about one such family member, Vilmos the rooster. “Yes, because while he was living inside, he almost destroyed my laptop. They enjoy that a lot, tapping on the keyboard, especially when it makes some sound, they are absolutely enchanted by that. Roosters are tremendously intelligent. They don’t leave you alone, the same way that a kitten doesn’t leave you alone; they are always there, checking out everything. While Vilmos was living inside, he followed me everywhere. He was always there and would jump up and then sit on my lap.”