Tenzin Nyima, a self-proclaimed animal lover and vegetarian, took a stand against the Vandal Brand Meats slaughterhouse — a five-day stand.
After hearing of the slaughterhouse located on the University of Idaho campus during a meeting of the Local Herbivores, a club for vegetarians and vegans, Nyima felt motivated to take action.
“The whole end goal of this is to make the college of Agriculture and Science, the slaughter house, to make them stop killing animals,” Nyima said. “I am also doing this to raise awareness. I don’t have a specific day, like, ‘Oh, I will stop on day five.’ I am going to keep going until they stop, or bring change to it.”
Nyima began his hunger strike Sept. 6, shortly after the meeting where he learned of Vandal Brand Meats. He called off the strike Monday.
The Vandal Meats program is an extension of the Animal and Veterinarian department in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. While faculty members manage each facility within Vandal Meats, the rest of Vandal Meats is comprised of students.
UI spokesperson Jodi Walker said in a prepared statement Nyima met with and discussed the potential health risks with the Dean of Students prior to going on strike. “This student was thoughtful about taking this action and appeared to be aware of the risks involved.
“We support our students’ rights to free expression. As long as students do not violate university policies or state or federal law, we welcome and support the peaceful expression of one’s views,” the statement reads.
Nyima said he hopes his actions will influence others.
“I realized that my goal or my demand … to stop slaughtering the animals was not going to be ratified. Also, I should not worry about the outcome of it. It is all about raising awareness,” he said following the end of his protest. “I hope I affected some students and that this will be a ripple for others and (myself) to take more action in the future.”
The junior decided to take a non-violent approach to the issue with a hunger strike — a method he said has an effective history.
“You can do alternative ways, like brochures, or informing, but I think a hunger strike really gets there quicker in the end,” Nyima said.
While he relied on his health to get him through the hunger strike, Nyima said he did not worry about his well-being in the process.
“I can do it,” Nyima said Sept. 7. “This is my body and I believe physically I can manage and go on a long time like this. However long it takes for the college to stop killing the animals at the slaughter house.”
With the intention of continuing his hunger strike until he saw change from the UI College of Agriculture and Science, Nyima said he called off the strike after five days so he can address his concerns through other methods that do not sacrifice his health.
“With the build up of weekly assignments and the state of my health and understanding that hunger strikes should be about raising awareness, I decided to stop and that I have future opportunities to spread more awareness, inform to other people about the wrongs of killing an animal, and to make them change their perspective,” he said.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]
This article has been updated to include comment from a University of Idaho spokesperson.