People LOVE their dogs and cats. In fact, Americans love
their dogs and cats so much they spend nearly $60 billion a year on them! And
they should: Companion animals are sensitive and sweet, and fill our lives with
joy. They are truly family members and we should take care of them accordingly.
their dogs and cats so much they spend nearly $60 billion a year on them! And
they should: Companion animals are sensitive and sweet, and fill our lives with
joy. They are truly family members and we should take care of them accordingly.
So what does this have to do with eating meat?
Well, for starters, the animals we raise and kill for food
are just as sensitive and intelligent as the dogs and cats we adore at home. Consider,
for example, that chickens can recognize more than 100 individuals, cows form
close friendships, and pigs are thought to have the intelligence of a three-year-old
child.
are just as sensitive and intelligent as the dogs and cats we adore at home. Consider,
for example, that chickens can recognize more than 100 individuals, cows form
close friendships, and pigs are thought to have the intelligence of a three-year-old
child.
In all the ways that matter, farmed animals are very similar
to dogs and cats. Yet we relegate them to intense and unimaginable cruelties: extreme confinement, brutal
mutilations, and bloody, violent deaths. The truth is that if we treated just
one dog or cat the way the meat, dairy, and egg industries treat billions of
animals, we’d be behind bars for animal abuse.
to dogs and cats. Yet we relegate them to intense and unimaginable cruelties: extreme confinement, brutal
mutilations, and bloody, violent deaths. The truth is that if we treated just
one dog or cat the way the meat, dairy, and egg industries treat billions of
animals, we’d be behind bars for animal abuse.
So how can we say we’re animal lovers and eat animals? I
would argue we honestly can’t.
would argue we honestly can’t.
No one needs to eat animal products to survive; it’s quite
the opposite. In fact, there are tremendous health and environmental
benefits to ditching animal products. Right now millions of people are thriving
on a delicious and humane plant-based diet.
the opposite. In fact, there are tremendous health and environmental
benefits to ditching animal products. Right now millions of people are thriving
on a delicious and humane plant-based diet.
So if you love your dogs or cats and see them as the unique,
sensitive, and intelligent beings they are, it’s time you opened your eyes and
started seeing farmed animals the same way.
sensitive, and intelligent beings they are, it’s time you opened your eyes and
started seeing farmed animals the same way.
Love animals, you say? Then stop eating them. Really. Start today.
