My Story - Francis Metivier
Born in Quebec, Canada, I started travelling the world in search of adventure at a very young age and I have never stopped. Chasing waves to ride and rockfaces to climb in remote and distant places, my home became wherever I found myself.
While spending decades exploring different parts of the world, the one common thing that I kept witnessing was the always omnipresent exploitation and use of animals by humans.
Being constantly exposed, I became more aware of the endless ways that animals are exploited for human interest, regardless of the culture. I have witnessed monkeys and elephants chained up, cockfighting games, wet markets, pig being slaughtered, birds in cages, and the sound of dogs being beaten to death in the dark of night. In each of these moments, I always felt that it wasn’t right.
In 2011, I came to the conclusion that if I wasn’t able to kill animals myself, I shouldn’t be eating them. My journey to align my actions with my values began.
I became a Pescatarian
A few years later, while in India, I found myself standing in front of an aquarium at a restaurant and I was asked to choose which live fish I would like to be killed for my meal. This experience literally brought me face to face with the living being that I was about to eat. I realized that I had no justification to kill a fish either.
I became a Vegetarian
In the spring of 2018 while on an extended surf trip to Indonesia, my life changed drastically.
Within a week the click between being vegetarian and going vegan had more to do with learning about the dairy and egg industry including all other forms of animal exploitation. All done by watching documentaries, speeches, videos, etc…I remembers Gary Yourofsky’s “Best Speech You Will Ever Hear” as having a huge impact on me.
My empathy and love for animals convinced me to adopt a vegan lifestyle. For me it was a no brainer:
“I don’t want to cause harm to animals. Eating animal products obviously causes harm to animals. Therefore to live according to my values, I don’t eat animal products anymore.”
I became a Vegan
Immediately after becoming aware of these atrocities, I told myself “There is no way I am just going to sit here and do nothing. I felt the need to do something.”
I became an Activist
AS AN ACTIVIST
In the summer of 2018, I created a new and original concept of doing activism. I purchased this old vintage camper van, customized and named it so I could promote Veganism wherever I went. I have since become known as the “Vigorous Vegan Vagabond” and have been travelling and living in this house on wheels for the last 5 years. The van is equipped with dispensers, holding educational cards available for people to grab.
Over the last 5 years, I have dedicated most of my time to defending animals and educating people. I have touched on many types of activism from protests, vigils, street outreach to animal rescues, disruptions, civil disobedience to online posts, investigations and videos content creation.
At 52 years old, I will continue to travel, speak out for the animals and use my skills as a videographer, creating original and impactful videos to further my passion as a full-time animal rights activist.Here is a sample of my activism captured in photos:
