Prime Tips: Leafleting for Animals

Earlier this year, I handed out my first leaflet for animals. I gave out PETA’s “Vegetarian Starter Kit” at the San Francisco St. Patrick’s Day parade. I was really nervous, but it was surprisingly easy. Sure, some people scurried past me, avoiding eye contact, but many others willingly took a leaflet with a smile or thanks. I was pleased to see people paging through their leaflets as they waited for the parade to begin.

I wasn’t initially sold on the value of leafleting. Surely most people would just throw them away? My own response to a leaflet is usually a negative one: “Is this a cult religion of some kind? A commercial opportunity I don’t really need? Propaganda for the next election?”

But then I discovered some facts that changed my mind. Leafleting about the benefits of vegetarian diets turns out to be a pretty efficient way to reduce animal suffering. The average vegetarian or vegan spares the lives of about 100 animals every year, many of whom live in appalling conditions. Surveys have shown that at least one to three percent of people who take a vegetarian leaflet end up going vegetarian or making changes to their diets.

Handing out leaflets is a numbers game: one or more potential new vegetarians for every 100 leaflets and 100 animals per year per vegetarian or vegan. It’s pretty easy to hand out 100 leaflets in less than an hour, and I can’t think of many other ways to help so many animals with so small an investment of my time.

One thing that I find challenging about leafleting is the occasional heckler. Most people who aren’t interested in the leaflets will say “No, thanks” or walk by without saying anything, but a few people feel the need to give their opinion (usually without bothering to read the leaflet first). Popular comments include:

• “Get a life!” (Or the erudite variant “You suck!”) I assume the speaker is trying to say that I should be doing something more valuable with my time. I actually think it’s pretty worthwhile to prevent animal suffering, but there’s no telling that to a get-a-lifer. My favorite response: “Thanks for the feedback!” and a big smile.

• “I don’t want to know about that. I’m here to enjoy myself!” (Usually said outside the circus, the rodeo, or Joe Bob’s Big House o’ Bar-B-Q.) The I-don’t-want-to-know people are very hard to leaflet. I just say “Enjoy the show!” or “Enjoy your dinner!” and move on to the next person. I hope that my courteous response might leave them more open to taking a leaflet the next time.

Most hecklers don’t want to have a conversation; they just want to say their piece and move on. So I’m polite to them (sometimes gritting my teeth), and I concentrate on reaching everyone else within hearing distance with the message that compassion (for human and nonhuman animals) is a good thing.

Leafleting is a fantastic way to do vegetarian outreach. Most people prefer to reach their own conclusions rather than having someone else tell them what to do. A leaflet gives people a chance to find out for themselves how animals raised for food are treated. Best of all, leafleting with some like-minded friends is a lot of fun!

Consider handing out some leaflets the next time you have a spare hour or two. Have any leafleting tips? Let us know in the comments.