Maryanne Appel is a board member of Compassion for Animals, Respect for the Environment (CARE)

When I was a child, I witnessed my father boiling crabs alive. I can see them still, and hear the scraping of their claws against the metal sides of the pot. And my father pushing the lid back down again and again to prevent their escape. All I could do as a child of nine or ten was stand by and watch, aghast, horrified, and numb at what I was seeing. I ran from the room to spare myself the pain of sharing such terrible suffering. But I’m not running anymore. That day, so many years ago, was the very beginning of my vegan journey. And although I haven’t stopped crying yet, I’ve put my own anguish to activism.