After BBC radio 4's the Moral Maze aired "Veganism and Animal Rights" last night at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08zcbv5 (5th August) it occurred to me, who is "asking the animal?" As a vet with a livestock background, like many in the industry I am aware of the gap between the realities of farming and public understanding. The programme in question was between meat eaters not wishing to consider the issues, and vegans who consider issues centred on their own morals without understanding the needs of farmed animals. To say (as one panelist did) "we can't ask animals what they think" is like the colonialist saying "we can't ask the natives". Use the right language to understand and animals will tell you. We have access to enlightening research in this arena but it is not being talked about. Farmers and vets with first hand experience of caring for animals are not being asked.

This petition is not designed to spread an opinion (there is enough of that). Rather it is to demonstrate a public thirst for knowledge and reasoning skills with which we can individually combine our own morals with the realities of farming to each make these personal ethical decisions.

Starting with re-running the programme on Radio 4.