I was only 7, and even though I had everything that my heart desired, I always felt that something was missing in my life, until the day when I realized what it was: a companion animal to share my life with. I begged my parents for one many, many times, but they didn’t believe in keeping animals in small spaces. Our apartment, though, was not small, and we certainly had enough room for an animal, but my father’s concept of “small spaces” was very particular. He had grown up in a big hacienda, where animals, domestic or not, had plenty of room to roam and live, so the limitations of our apartment were not acceptable to him for this purpose at all.

I must had been either a very persistent and perseverant girl or the worst pest that ever existed on the face of the Earth, because after a few months, my parents finally gave in and got me a tiny chick from the market. When I look back at those times, I think my parents gave me a chicken to bore me to death, to exhaust my boundless energy, or simply to keep me busy from bothering them further about a companion animal.

My friends at school never dared to make fun of my newly acquired friend, but I caught them laughing secretly a couple of times. I did not care at all. I was determined to make the best of that situation, and I proceeded to give him a proper name. This task was complicated because I had no idea how you were supposed to name chickens, so I decided to wait for some personality traits to appear in order to select a proper name. The most relevant characteristic that he displayed was his constant desire to fly. Many times, I had to rescue him from our neighbor’s houses, and more than once, I had to save his life when people in the streets did not see a companion but a meal ready to be prepared!

I named him Jorge Chávez after the first Peruvian aviator to fly across the Alps. Everyone at home used to get upset at him for flying away from the nice home that I had made for him on the terrace, but I secretly was proud of him and his dream of being liberated. I almost encouraged his desire to fly away and be free, because even at that early age, I firmly believed that creatures with wings should be able to fly freely. Jorge was an eagle in disguise, and in his own particular way, he was showing me the way to be free, too.

Jorge and I used to sit on top of the roof, wrapped in a blanket during the humid winters in Lima and with a glass of lemonade during the hot summer months. Sometimes, I read him stories that I had written about him at school, and other times, we just sat quietly, enjoying the eloquence of a silence in which he probably thought about his dreams of flying like an eagle and I thought about joining him, somehow. We were one in mind and soul, and there was no void in my heart anymore.

But one day, my grandmother came for a visit while I was at school, and being the dominant and omnipotent matron that she was, she proclaimed that chickens were on this planet for only one reason—and she served him to us for dinner. I hated everyone that day. I hated my family for not standing up for me or Jorge and for not respecting the bond that existed between us. I cried all night and refused to eat chickens for a while, but my small revolution lasted only a short time. I convinced myself that, after all, the chickens I was eating were not Jorge—they were animals placed on this Earth to be eaten. Maybe my grief made me unable to associate this creature I learned to love with others who were served as meals on my table. It took more than 20 years for me to make the connection and see all chickens in the same light—and finally understand that no living creature is anyone’s property and that all are deserving of both consideration and respect.

Sometimes, it takes a long time to see the truth, but now that I am a vegan and an animal advocate, I can think of all those childhood lessons that I learned and see Jorge flying up in the sky with the eagles. At 7, I was powerless and unable to do anything for him, but now, I am happy to be one of the defenders of his kind. Now, I know that he was always ahead of me in the fulfillment of our dreams.

Maru Vigo has been an animal rights advocate since 1980. She started her activism in Lima, Peru, working on issues related to companion animals, organizing campaigns against bullfighting, promoting vegan eating, and educating the public about animal rights. She is a longtime PETA member and Augustus Club member. A teacher, she’s changing the world for animals by nurturing her students’ thirst for knowledge and compassion. She does the same throughout Arizona, Mexico, and Central and South America through her leadership, activism, and blog, challenging the beliefs and traditions that keep animals subjugated.