Eating with compassion

Be sure to read Leslee Horner‘s introductory post to this 4 part series.

I can’t say that I’ve always been an animal person.  I grew up with a dog and cat.  My dog and I shook hands and played chase in the front yard.  The cat slept in my bed and allowed me to dress him up as if he were a doll.  I loved them but didn’t feel connected to them, and I definitely didn’t think much about other animals.  Now I truly feel connected to animals.

It started two years ago with an owl.  I was at a zoo.  It wasn’t the nicest zoo I’ve been to and this one owl looked quite sickly.  I stopped in front of his area and stared into his eyes.  He stared back into mine.  Those eyes were so very sad and somehow I felt like he was telling me about his pain.  I imagined that he could receive my thoughts and I told him I was sorry and that I loved him.  As I walked through the rest of the zoo I tried to make this connection with the other animals.  I don’t remember if it worked as well with any other animal, but I know since that day I have tried to send my love to animals I come in contact with.  It seems to at least work with dogs.  They love me.  I often judge how pure my heart is by the way a dog treats me.  If I am approachable to dogs than I assume my energy is positive and loving.

As you can imagine I don’t buy into the whole “dominion over animals” thing, or at least not in the way man has interpreted.  I believe that animals experience bonds and emotions just like people do.  I believe that they are aware and don’t deserve to be mistreated.  I believe that they are an important piece in this great earth puzzle and were not created to be horrifically abused in the name of consumption.

For a long time I resisted the urge to read about the treatment of animals in the beef, poultry, pork and dairy industry because I knew that educating myself would result in my conscience insisting on a lifestyle change.  Even currently I struggle with my path toward veganism, as I find it very hard to eliminate dairy from my diet.  But I know that there is a reason I am drawn toward the path and that as my consciousness rises I seek a compassionate way of life which carries over to my diet.  So I’d like to use this stage to present what I have learned about the way the animals we eat are treated.

Pigs

It was only after I started researching that I learned how smart pigs are.  They are one of the smartest animals (maybe next to dolphins).  They are friendly, sociable and fun.  They like to roll in the mud to cool off and keep the flies away.  They are not the dirty animals we think of, they actually go out of their way to keep their spaces clean.  They need lots of room to roam around and their hooves were created to dig and move in dirt.  In the factory farms they are kept in stalls so small that they can’t even sit down or turn around.  They are forced to stand on slated metal floor and their hooves become infected.  They get so upset in these tight spaces that they will bite the tails off of other pigs.  The farmers will cut off their tails to keep this from happening.  And remember how smart these animals are?  When it comes time for slaughter, they know.  They hear their brethren pigs being slaughtered, and they completely panic.  In learning what I have, I can’t believe that anyone could witness this treatment and believe that pigs are dumb, dirty animals that don’t know any better.

Cows

In discussing cows I am going to put the emphasis on mothers and calves.  Humans like to think that we are so different from animals, but when it comes to mother/child bonding it must be similar.  If animals didn’t feel that special bond with their babies the species would die out.  The bond is necessary for survival.  With that in mind let’s talk about what happens to cows.  Dairy cows are impregnated far more often than is natural.  The calves are immediately taken away from the mother and the mother’s milk is then taken for our consumption.  Can you imagine the pain any creature would experience if they were continuously giving birth to babies that were immediately removed from their care?  And the babies?  Well they are taken off to tiny stalls and fattened up to be made into veal parmesan.  Just like all the other animals, cattle are not given the space they need to move around.  They are fed a diet that their bodies weren’t created to properly digest.  And when it comes time for slaughter, just like the pigs, they know and they react.

Chickens

I get particularly irritated these days when I see the Chik-Fil-A advertisements.  It’s as if somehow being a small bird means you are not really a living creature at all.  I have a friend that used to keep egg-laying hens in her backyard.  When I went over for a visit and stood at the sliding glass door the hens ran up to greet me as if they were puppies.  Hens are wonderful mothers and roosters are quite brave.  Just like any other living creature they were not meant to be crammed into cages so tightly that they can’t even move.  In those tight spaces the chickens go crazy and peck at each other.  Just like the pigs and the tail-dockings, the chickens are de-beaked to keep them from hurting each other and thus hurting profits.  They are genetically modified to make them grow many times larger than they should.  Their legs are not strong enough to hold up the weight and they deal with pain and immobility because of it.

The animals that make their way to our plates do not experience freedom, fresh air, natural diets, or affection.  They are not able to respond to any of their natural urges.  They live in pure pain and misery.  Many or most of them experience absolute terror.  I have learned a lot about the idea of energy over the past few years.  I sense the energy from the people around me and places that I visit.  I can feel its effects on me.  The animals we eat carry an energy of pain and horror.  I can’t help but think that we absorb that pain as we consume them.  I, for one, have definitely felt more clarity since I gave up meat.

In the end though, I don’t expect everyone to feel the way I do about animals.  I like to believe that if you are reading this, eating more compassionately is in your awareness or perhaps will be something you begin to explore now.  If you don’t intend to give up meat, I’m not asking you to.  You can start researching where the meat you eat comes from and consider buying from a different source.  I have a friend who buys (and freezes) an entire cow once a year.  As a vegetarian you’d think that would appall me but actually it doesn’t.  I respect that she doesn’t want to give up meat and love that she at least buys from a farm where the cows lived free and natural lives before they became dinner.

I’d just love to see us treat animals as if we have a little respect for life.  Is it too much to ask that they at least be allowed to move around?

Leslee Horner lives in Florida with her husband and two daughters.  She is a former elementary school teacher turned writer.  Currently her literary agent is shopping her first Young Adult novel, SUMMER OF STARS.  You can learn more about the book, its road to publication, and read Leslee’s blog at www.lesleehorner.com.