Dare to be Aware
Are you an animal lover? Do you really love animals? Can you put your hand on your heart and truly swear that animals are important to you, and that you’d do anything to alleviate the pain of a suffering animal if you saw one?
And what about the animals you don’t see? If you knew that huge shed down the road with the strange unpleasant odour was really an animal Auschwitz that hid the most atrocious and cruel practices, what then? Would you buy the meat it supplies to the local supermarket and still describe yourself as someone who loves animals?
Or do you mean you only love ‘your’ animal (which doesn’t really belong to you anyway).
Interesting question, don’t you think? And worth thinking about.
In Europe we pride ourselves on being animal loving countries and show outrage, shock and horror at the way the asians treat cats and dogs. In reality, we are just as guilty. The way livestock are treated in factory farms across Europe is disgusting. But somehow there seems to be this distinction between farm animals and domestic animals which makes it okay to abuse one and not the other.
Doh! Now how did that happen? At what point did this differentiation of animals sneak in to protect our feeble consciences? And who precisely are we trying to kid anyway?
The things humans do to protect themselves and justify their bloody deeds.
But lets get everything back in perspective again. All living creatures with a central nervous system are animals. We humans are animals. To love animals means to love ourselves. To love ourselves also means to love what we do.
So to buy meat knowing it comes from animals who are neglected, mutilated, crammed into tiny places, drugged to make them grow disproportionately and painfully large before they suffer gruesome and violent slaughters - is that an act you can love yourself for? To support such cruelty and abuse just because you feel like a burger?
Farm animals are just as intelligent as domestic pets. To love your dog or cat yet turn a blind eye to the chickens, sheep, pigs, cows, turkeys that are being mutilated for cheap animal products that are bad for us anyway is not loving animals. Don’t kid yourself.
It’s easy to change this situation, to change yourself. All you need to do is care.
Start today. Prove you are a real animal lover and eat less meat, choose organic meat - or become a vegetarian. Show your body you love it.
Are You a Real Animal Lover?
