Your Personal Choice Ends Where Someone Else’s Body Begins

"It's my personal choice"

One of the most common defences for funding animal exploitation. A phrase thrown out like a mic drop, as if it shuts the whole conversation down.

But let’s be clear: personal choice ends where someone else’s body begins.

That’s not controversial. It’s ethics.

We don’t accept “personal choice” as a defence for harming dogs. We don’t accept it for harming cats, or children, or anyone else. And yet somehow, when it comes to pigs, chickens, cows and fish - suddenly, everything’s a “choice.”

You Can Personally Choose Anything. That Doesn’t Make It Ethical.

People personally choose to do all sorts of things: lie, cheat, abuse, even kill. The fact that a choice is “personal” doesn’t make it morally valid.

If someone said, “Don’t judge me, it’s my personal choice to drown puppies,” would you nod and move on?

No. You’d call it out. Because personal choices that harm others aren’t morally neutral - they’re violent, selfish, and indefensible.

So let’s stop pretending that “eating what I want” is just a private matter. The animals being bred, used, and killed didn’t choose to be part of your lunch.

The Victims of Your Choice

When people say “respect my personal choice,” what they really mean is “ignore the victims of my actions.”

Let’s name them:

- 56 billion land animals and up to 2.7 trillion marine animals killed each year.  

- Slaughterhouse workers with sky-high rates of PTSD, substance abuse, and injury.  

- Humans across the globe facing environmental collapse, antibiotic resistance, and food scarcity.  

- Children and adults suffering from preventable diseases caused by animal products.  

- Entire ecosystems destroyed to make room for grazing, slaughter, and monocrops for animal feed.

That’s who you’re asking us to ignore. Not just a pig, or a chicken, or a fish - but an entire web of victims spanning species, industries, and continents.

Imagine This Logic Elsewhere

“Don’t force your beliefs on me. It’s my personal choice to hit my dog.” 

“Don’t judge. It’s my personal choice to burn the rainforest.”  

“I personally believe stealing is fine, so don’t push your ethics on me.”

We don’t accept this logic in any other context. Because it’s nonsense.

We don’t get to opt out of morality when it suits us. “Choice” isn’t a trump card. It’s a smokescreen.

This Isn’t About You

That’s the point most people miss. When you say “it’s my choice,” you’re only considering yourself.

What about the animals who don’t want to die? What about the people living near factory farms, inhaling toxic waste and drinking polluted water? What about the future generations inheriting a planet scorched by deforestation, emissions, and desertification?

What about the people working jobs that cause trauma, injury, and despair because someone demanded “cheap meat”?

Veganism isn’t about control. It’s about consequences. And the truth is: your “personal choice” is paid for by someone else.

If You Think You Deserve Respect, Try Giving It

We’re often told: “Respect my choice.”

But here’s a thought: respect the animal’s choice not to be killed.

Respect the calf’s choice to stay with their mum.  

Respect the hen’s choice not to be bred into a lifetime of laying until her body gives out.  

Respect the fish’s choice not to suffocate on a boat deck.  

Respect the worker’s choice not to slit throats for minimum wage.  

Respect the Earth’s choice to exist without being drained and defiled.

Veganism respects more choices, not fewer.

And If You’re Still Clinging to Culture, Religion, or Tradition...

Plenty of cultures have defended slavery, female genital mutilation, and honour killings.  

Plenty of traditions involve violence, exclusion, and exploitation.  

Plenty of religions have evolved - because compassion is not a fixed thing.

The truth? You don’t have to hurt animals. You choose to. And you can choose something else. Right now. Today.

So, Let’s Ask One Final Question

When you say “it’s my personal choice” to consume animals,  

Whose choice are you actually respecting?

The animal’s?  

The worker’s?  

The planet’s?

Or is it just your own?

Because if your “personal choice” depends on ignoring the suffering of others,  

It’s not personal.  

It’s political.  

It’s violent.  

It’s cowardly.

And it’s time to stop pretending otherwise.