Famous Vegans - Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde, 2009.

Chrissie Hynde

Born Christine Ellen Hynde on September 7, 1951. She is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She is the lead singer of The Pretenders, a band that was formed in 1978 in England. She has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history. In 2005, Chrissie Hynde and her band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can check out their music at this link.

She is a vegan and an animal rights activist. She is a supporter of PETA and Viva! and appeared in Viva!'s clip Not in my Name. In 2007, she opened the vegan restaurant VegiTerranean, in her hometown Akron, Ohio. Business Week voted it among the top five vegan restaurants in the U.S. It closed in October 2011, due to the economic climate.

Quotes by Chrissie Hynde:

"When I was about 17, I heard the word vegetarian. I didn’t know any, not in Ohio but it occurred to me that if you can live without killing animals then what on earth had I been doing for the last 17 years? As I became aware of farming - the forcible control of animals, the cages, tethers, mass transport - I thought of Nazi Germany and the holocaust where the images were akin to factory farming."

"The amount of suffering that animals endure doesn’t surprise me because it’s mirrored by the scale of human suffering. There are whole continents where people are starving to death and the cause is the same – enforced slavery and exploitation. Violence breeds violence and gentle ways promote more gentle ways. The reaction to murder is murder and people who eat meat are responsible for wholesale murder. They take pleasure in eating meat, which has nothing to do with necessity, and killing for pleasure is murder."

"Why, why do you insist on this meat-eating habit? You don’t need it, it’s not healthy, it’s causing a lot of suffering, look at the mess we’re in."

"The bottom line is that you certainly don’t need to eat meat to live so why are you doing that? Unless an animal is trying to kill me, why would I want to kill it? I question any parent who can bring their child up thinking that this act of unnecessary violence should become a part of their life and that they accept it as normal. I think it’s gross irresponsibility by the parent. I think it’s shameful."

"Whatever suffering I cause to anything while I’m here, I’m going to get that back. So when I see the mass scale of factory farming it makes me sad, not just for the animals but for the people who perpetuate it. They’re gonna have to go all the way back to the beginning and start over and they’re gonna have to endure a lot more suffering than a bull in a bull ring. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes because I believe that every pig you slaughter, you are that pig eventually – and sooner than you think, pal, so tread lightly."

"Accepting widespread cruelty is the worst thing a society can do because it will all be reflected back on us. Whatever damage we do to the animal kingdom we are doing to ourselves and to our own children and families – the whole human community."

When asked to give a reaction to the common statement "But I can't live without my meat, I like it too much!", she answered:

"Well you don’t need your meat so that’s a lie – that’s not even an argument. Clearly you don’t need it and we veggies are proof of that. It’s a silly thing to say when for thousands of years in India a whole nation hasn’t eaten meat. As far as you liking it, ha, if you think that’s an argument for killing then you’re giving license to serial killers to keep at it because the reason they kill is because they like it, too.".

In the '80s, she got married while sitting in a horse-drawn carriage. She has since changed her opinion about this issue and has helped PETA protest against them in New York.

"Learning about how horses have died in accidents and seeing their pathetic night stalls got me to change my tune about carriage horses. I love horses and hate seeing them reduced to beasts of burden in one of my favorite cities in the world."
"I got hitched to Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) in a horse drawn carriage in New York. The marriage didn't last and I hope the carriages meet the same fate."

When asked about how important it is to take the decision to go veggie, she answered:

"It is the most important step you can ever take in your life. Without taking that step you just can’t progress, you can’t get on with the important things in your life. It’s just never going to happen and you’re going to end up very frustrated at the end of your life – and that’s guaranteed."

Quotes are from a 2003 interview with Viva!, a 2008 article in the PETA Files, a 2005 interview for BBC Radio.