Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
Jenny Moxham
January 2016
So how on earth does this inconsistent behavior of ours come about? Is it because we've been conditioned from childhood into viewing certain types of animal as food and others as pets? Why do we fail to see that if a feline is deserving of consideration and compassion a fish is equally deserving of consideration and compassion? Isn't it time we took off our blinkers and recognized that all sentient beings deserve to be treated with compassion - not just those we've labeled "pets"?
"I'm just a softie" said my friend who was explaining to me why he was going to be acquiring a second cat. It seems his neighbor, who was moving to New Zealand, was unwilling to pay the quarantine fee required and was, therefore, planning to have his cat euthanized. My friend had immediately jumped in to save kitty's life by offering her a home. Without a doubt it was a compassionate and kind act. The act of a true animal lover, one might say.
But then the conversation turned to fish and my friend told me how much he "loved" seafood. Well, sea "food" as people tend to call it is actually aquatic animals and the suffering commercially caught fish endure when hauled form the deep is enormous. The trawl net is pulled along the sea bed or through the water above the seabed by heavy boats. When deep-water fish caught in the nets are dragged up from the ocean depths the change in pressure can cause their eyes to balloon and their swim bladders to burst. Many drown under the weight of all the others on top of them.Once on board, the fish die slowly and painfully from suffocation or from being gutted.
But it's not any better for fish raised in fish farms because these farms are essentially factory farms under water. Like farmers on the land, fish farmers try to cram as many animals as possible into a small space. Consequently the fish spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy enclosures where many suffer from parasitic infections, diseases, and debilitating injuries. The jostling causes sores and damage to their fins and there are no regulations to ensure humane slaughter.
If the seafood my friend "loved" consisted of crab, lobster or some other type of crustacean these animals may very well have been boiled to death in a pot.
But my friend didn't seem to be conscious of any of this and I'm sure he regards himself as an animal lover.
Of course, he is no different from the majority of people. Most people are totally inconsistent when it comes to the treatment of different animals. They will pamper a pet dog yet will think nothing of sending a little pig to a brutal and violent death even though he is every bit as deserving and intelligent as their pet dog.
Strangely, people don't even treat the same species in a consistent manner. People who keep "pet" birds will happily eat other birds and those who keep "pet" fish will eat fish. So how on earth does this inconsistent behavior of ours come about?
Is it because we've been conditioned from childhood into viewing certain types of animal as food and others as pets? Why do we fail to see that if a feline is deserving of consideration and compassion a fish is equally deserving of consideration and compassion?
Isn't it time we took off our blinkers and recognized that all sentient beings deserve to be treated with compassion - not just those we've labeled "pets"?
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