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Circuses, zoos
and aquarium parks like SeaWorld
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are destinations
most kids can’t wait to visit.
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But Dominic Geragi
isn’t just any kid.
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An animal activist since the age of seven
and co-president
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of the non-profit Animal Hero Kids,
Dominic firmly stands against
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the use and abuse of animals
for entertainment
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and is really making waves
in his community.
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Pun intended.
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Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan
and welcome to another vegan nugget.
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Today I’m excited to introduce you
to Dominic Geragi.
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At the age of eight, Dominic had bullhooks
banned in Margate, Florida,
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which I’ll let him talk about more.
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Now, with five years of animal activism
under his belt and at the ripe old age age of twelve,
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Dominic continues to fight for captive animals
in the entertainment industry.
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Dominic shared what inspired him
to go vegan and become active.
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First I watched
the documentary The Cove
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and that got me to protesting
the Miami Seaquarium,
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which then caused me to become vegetarian.
And we started learning about more stuff.
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Then like a month after I became vegan.
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I protest at Miami Seaquarium.
Five years now, we've been protesting there.
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We've had many different events happen there.
We've had a lot of cars turn around
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where the cars don't go in.
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Dominic hit the ground running
and spoke out against the cruel use of bullhooks,
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resulting in their banning.
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When I was eight years old I banned bullhooks
and electric prods from being used
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in the city of Margate in Florida.
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I'm eight years old,
I live in Boca Raton.
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I do not like Cole Brothers,
or any other circus that uses animals.
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They use electrical rods,
they electrocute the animals.
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They take bullhooks
and beat the elephants.
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Little baby elephants
are taken from their mothers
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to be beaten.
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Please do what you can
to help these animals.
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Kids have a voice.
Thank you very much.
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Bullhooks are used like batons
but they have a hook at the top of them
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and they beat the elephants with them.
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And there's actually videos
of the trainers using the bullhook
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to bring the elephants somewhere
where they had damage on their feet
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and other parts of their body.
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With other kids his age flocking
to aquariums, zoos and circuses,
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I asked Dominic
why he protests against them.
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Sea World and Miami Seaquarium
where they just take--
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and they put them into this cove
and they take half of them
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and put them into Sea World
and the Seaquarium,
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and they just put them
into these tiny tanks.
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Some of them are illegal,
like Lolita's.
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Lolita's is illegal,
it's way too small for her.
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And circuses are animals being taken,
tortured, and put into these places.
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And it's just really depressing
there for them.
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Given this sad reality,
Dominic shared that there are alternatives
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if kids and their families
want to interact with animals.
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Sanctuaries is a perfect place
to see animals, and take care of them.
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Where you can see them,
and if you want to volunteer
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you can help them.
And basically help them to help their health.
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Dominic advocates other kids to get active
in their communities and schools.
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He shares his thoughts on the power
of kid activism and how to get involved.
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I mean, people listen to kids more
than they do to adults nowadays.
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They think, when they see an adult sitting down,
holding a sign:
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"Oh, that person is crazy.",
or something.
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But when they see a kid talking up there,
they think: "Wow, this is serious."
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and they actually get more of an impact.
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Spread awareness is probably the easiest part.
You can make your own leaflets
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and print them out and give them to people
in your neighborhood.
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Or if it's easier just go to your school
and talk about it,
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and have kids spread awareness,
make presentations. That's what I did.
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So more people know
about what is going on
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with circuses
and Miami Seaquarium and Sea World
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and all these bad places.
And on factory farms and all of those.
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Given that most kids his age
aren’t out there
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fighting for the rights of animals,
I asked Dominic
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what motivated him
to keep going.
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Seeing that animals
have more rights nowadays,
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you see more sanctuaries
and all these other places.
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That people actually care about animals
makes me want to help even more
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and try to get it completely--
like no circuses and no Miami Seaquarium.
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I’ll leave you with some excerpts from Dominic’s
Animal Hero Kids State of the Union Address.
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I Dominic, Animal Hero Kid president,
pledge to speak out for all animals in need.
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All of our voices together
will stop animal abuse.
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We need to be the voices
for the voiceless.
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We, the Animal Hero Kids,
promise to stop animal abuse
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by not going to circuses
that use animals for entertainment.
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Wild animals belong in the wild.
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We, the Animal Hero Kids,
across the nation
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will speak up
for the most abused animals of all:
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factory farmed animals,
like cows, chickens and pigs.
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If you want to find out more about Dominic
and his activist network,
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check out the links
in the video description below.
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Stay tuned to the channel
to hear from more Animal Hero Kids.
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If you liked this video,
do give it a thumbs up and share it around
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to help show what kids can accomplish.
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If you’re new here,
I’d love to have you as a subscriber.
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I put out fresh content covering
all aspects of veganism
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every Monday, Wednesday
and some Fridays.
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To help support Bite Size Vegan’s educational efforts, please see the support links below
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or click on the Nugget Army icon
or the link in the sidebar.
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Now go live vegan, end captivity,
and I’ll see you soon!
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When I say rip his head off,
rip his f--ing head off...
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It's very important that you do it.
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When he starts squirming too f--ing much,
both f--ing hands -- BOOM -- right under that chin!
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Sink that hook into 'em.
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When you hear that screaming,
then you know you got their attention!