Beaten to death by stoning. Poisoned. Hot Oil thrown over their bodies. Abused in the most inhumane ways. Body parts stolen and sold as trinkets. Used for entertainment purposes. If news were to break that a community was doing this to harmless individuals, human rights activists would demand the abusers to be charged, and new legislation to come out protecting the victim’s rights. But the second this happens to animals, people start to turn a blind eye. Every 60 minutes, an animal is abused.
The problem starts with us somehow refusing to believe that we cohabit this planet along with animals, that we aren’t some sort of superior species simply because we are conscious and have ‘power’. Animals ARE perceptive, emotional, and sentient beings (and not just domesticated dogs and cats but also insects, livestock, etc). Facing cruelty traumatizes a being capable of loving and maintaining relationships with humans to a being afraid, distressed, hurt by the sheer amount of physical pain they go through. This pain can also be emotional, through neglect by owners, forgetting to feed their pets and take care of their hygiene, and or hoarding pets. Just because it's easy to dominate animals and propagate human predation, and sometimes it's not possible to avoid eating animal products, doesn’t give us the right to destroy their habitats, to farm them in a vicious way, and justify it by saying that they’ll eventually be slaughtered, etc.
The main point is that humans are not entitled to animal by-products. Not meat, eggs, milk. Not fur. Not their dignity. Animals are not objects made for our entertainment. (Factory Farming, Puppy and Kitty Mills, Animal Fighting, Circuses). They are mutilated, starved, neglected, fattened, and worse. Moreover, people who justify animal cruelty are prone to commit domestic violence and even murder.
It's important to remember that animals in it of themselves are not aggressive just like human beings aren’t born aggressive. It's all about nurturing, and when we nurture animals the right way, when we care for them, when we acknowledge their rights and respect nature, we become better individuals. It's easy to make lifestyle changes to protect animal rights. Firstly, its awareness, it’s educating yourself on animal rights. It’s advocating for those right and supporting, donating to, or even joining an animal rights organization, second would be to avoid funding to and thus partaking in any business that condones viewing animals as objects for entertainment such as circuses, aquatic theme parks, some zoos, and companies that test their products on animals.
Furthermore, if you can sustain a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, then you could tell factory farms and meat companies, that you do not approve of how they treat animals, through this boycott. Every person makes a difference. However, such lifestyles cannot be sustained by everyone, and some people need to consume animal products to maintain proper health. But this doesn’t mean that avoiding animal products is all or nothing. It's okay and perfectly fine to be mindful and lessen the consumption of animal products whenever possible if not cut it out of your diet entirely. It will still make a difference even if you just cut out beef (responsible for greenhouse gases) or you cut out dairy milk.
I beg of you to make your difference. Even if you’re a teen and your family doesn’t necessarily agree or plant-based options aren’t readily available. Even if you’ve spent your entire life eating meat. Not just dietary changes but also to spread awareness and get companies and
corporations to consider animal rights. Adopt from shelters and properly assess the needs ofyour companion animals. Report Animal abuse. Change what you can not just for theseanimals, who deserve so much more than spending their life in a cage, but also for theenvironment. It is in your hands to make these choices. It's not easy but if you can educate yourself, I’d highly recommend you do so because it starts with you.
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