Discovering the gruesome reality that animals go through was a life changing event that would alter Gary Yourofsky’s life forever. Yourofsky was twenty three when his stepfather, a former clown in The Shrine Circus, invited him to go backstage to see the elephants. Although when he stepped into the warehouse of the Michigan State Fairgrounds he did not know that cruelty was the only thing he was actually going to see. As he was staring at the three eight thousand pound elephants who were shackled to the cement floor, Yourofsky noticed that they were neurotically moving from side to side. Looking into an elephant’s eye he could see the fear and the hopelessness that she was feeling. When he turned to his left he saw two tigers neurotically walking back and forth in their confined cages. Then, he looked to his right only to see a monkey screaming as he held onto the handlebars of his prison. Gary Yourofsky felt and knew that something was wrong as he described this act as a “slave show”. What he witnessed made him question what was really going on with his food, clothing, and in animal laboratories. As a result he attended Thorn Apple Valley pig slaughterhouse for approximately six weeks in Detroit. His heart hurt as he heard the screams of the pigs being slaughtered. That’s when he decided to be their friend and not their enemy. He was no longer going to be a hypocrite, but truly …show more content…
In 1996 he began to participate in activism through legislative attempts, writing, leafleting, and by being civilly disobedient. Through his experience he realized that education, direct action, and media advertisements were the best ways to spread awareness. In 1997 Yourofsky was asked to give a lecture at Canton High school in Michigan. He received a standing ovation from the 700 students he spoke to. Yourofsky was later then told that 100 students decided to switch to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. Because he received a great result from his lecture, he decided to continue down this path. Yourofsky gave 111 local lectures from 1997-2002 until financial issues occurred. Later a large organization donated $64,000 to cover his lecture tour. Gary Yourofsky gave 200 lectures in 7.5 months each year from 2002-2014 around the United States. Yourofsky lectured in private college classes. Professors later informed Yourofsky that 15-20 percent of the students made a conversion to veganism and that 50-60 percent reduced their animal-product consumption. Yourofsky never requested money from the schools or the students because he did not believe in charging someone to hear the truth. Other than his tour Yourofsky also has his own website (www.adaptt.org) where he has anything and everything you would like