March 20, 2010


Animals speak differing languages, come in different colors and looks, and have different appendages, but they are all still animals. Human and nonhuman animals are both on the same “animal” team.

Animals were endowed, by their creator, with the inalienable birth-right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, no matter what color of skin or fur.

Animals, human or nonhuman, are individuals, with distinct personality traits, and have the right not to be "legally owned" or "property" status since they are individuals - not lifeless objects. Animals suffer and feel pain. When it comes to experiencing pain and agony, all animals ‘feel’ much the same. Certainly the animals killed for food; feel as we do - so much so - that we can be empathetic with their emotions. Contrary to popular belief, fish do have highly developed nervous systems. They have nerve endings near their skin similar to mammals. Their mouths (where they are hooked by fishermen) are particularly sensitive.

All animals have a mother and a father. Cows have a strong mothering sense. They cry out relentlessly when humans steal their newborn calf, sometimes within 24 hours of birth. I have lived with forest-living deer. I witnessed that they have families. When someone is killed; whether it be a person during wartime or an enslaved nonhuman animal, we are killing a mother and father’s child.

Animals share the same ailing planet; only the human animals have a far worse environmental footprint. We don’t see the magnificence in the simplicity of other animal’s lives.

Animals display fear when they perceive danger or a threat to their life. All animals have a survival instinct; a desire to live. All animals are made of the same stuff…cells. Many animals (including the ones humans eat and wear) are so similar that they not only share being multi-cellular, but also share having a heart, a brain, a tongue, a nose, a set of lungs, eyes, ears, legs, arms, breasts, teeth, and a nervous system, skeletal system, muscular system, digestive system... Animals…pigs, cows, goats, ducks, chickens, humans, primates, horses, deer, rabbits, turkeys, dogs, cats, lobsters, fish, you name it – DO NOT want to be killed, murdered, butchered, slaughtered, hunted and eaten by their fellow animal. These farmed animals are scared when prodded down narrow chutes to meet their brutal death in slaughterhouses. They try to turn around, but can’t. They are terrified hearing the cries of those before them. Some actually run for their lives! Some are in too pitiful a condition to be able to run. Pigs scream and look their killer in the eyes questioning “why are you doing this to me?” according to ex-slaughterhouse workers who (because of the experience) chose to become vegan.

Most young children naturally love animals and when they understand that "meat" is the corpse of their murdered friend, they don’t want to eat animal flesh. Then they grow up and believe the lies that society perpetuates. Return to your childhood’s innate wisdom and learn to love other animals again! Animals should have solidarity and camaraderie between them; after all, we’re all animals.


Ricky T. said...

I love your posts. You are very wise and I hope the world will someday reflect these important insights.

The Compassionate Hedonist said...

i was watching a documentary on wolves and of course they had the hunting scenes, which many non vegans use as excuse to eat meat. Although how many humans have actually killed an animal with their teeth? One thing my husband and I both noticed is that the kill was quick as possible and almost as if the wolf seemed to understand it. Anyway, I connect to non human animals much more than humans. I have been this way since I was a child. But I am glad to know other people feel their "humanity" as I do.

Dan Cudahy said...

Great post, Butterflies.

Elizabeth Collins said...

Love it. I have had two people come up to our stall so far and when we talk abut humans being animals they have emphatically denied it. But once we talked more they ran away, cause they know it's true, of course.