posted 5 years ago
I've had quite a few "radical worldview changes" regarding animals and nature, especially as a teenager, but going vegetarian or vegan was never one of those. It never occured to me that NOT eating animals may be better for them, or for us, or for the environment. However, I knew that there was one thing still very disturbing for me: the actual death of an animal harvested for food, which is very different from natural death, and if that something is unbearable to me, then I should stop eating meat, right? I did already know how natural human death looks like, sadly. I know that there are people who may never see it, because they place their relatives in care homes, or live far away from them, and are lucky enough to never even see an accident either (yes, I've seen that too - a schoolboy hit by a car).
Human death is different for many reasons. First, because it's humans. Even if there are other species equally or more intelligent than us (like perhaps dolphins or elephants), we can't possibly communicate with them in a way that will let us know about it, or exchange some more advanced/abstract thoughts. So we don't know if they think about afterlife, do they believe in reincarnation, are they afraid of death or not. What we do know, is that we, humans, think about it. It's like we have other lives going on in our heads, and that consciousness is very precious to us.
I love what Alexia Allen once said, that if animals are harvested peacefully and calmly, they are not afraid of death, and if they are not afraid of death, maybe she shouldn't be afraid of it either.
So, I started from reading about methods of stunning animals, and their effectiveness on various species. I skipped any pics or videos that might be included, and I preferred the scientific pdfs, because they usually don't have illustrations. When I learned enough about that, I could look at pictures and videos, and the painful part was usually just seconds; minutes at worst.
How does it compare to animals suffering at the vets, where they often come back again and again, during long and painful treatments?
If I had a stopwatch, and measured the time of *actual suffering* of a respectfully harvested animal, and compared it to the amount of time that many animals suffer during veterinary treatment, I think the latter is worse.
Of course, sometimes it's for a good reason; the animal can still have a good life, it's relatively young, important to keep herd dynamics in balance, etc.
There was a time when I volunteered for a local animal rescue organization, but they started omnivore-shaming me, haha. Although I usually worked with dogs. I stopped for other reasons; due to poor knowledge, many of their actions were really stupid, and animals suffered more as a result. So I quit, but I still struggled with other "dilemma": the animals which are "better", because they're our friends and pets, and the anonymous animals which become our food.
I came across such case just now - I visited the website of a dog shelter. The shelter has not only dogs and cats, but also pigs and other critters. I looked at the description of pigs out of curiosity. There was a note at the end: "These pigs are up for adoption, but only as friends, not food :)".
What do they feed these dogs, just pasta?!
If so, they should know how many animals die during mechanical harvest.
You can look at it this way: here is my pig Joe, he's my friend, I'm not eating Joe; so I'll eat that anonymous other pig instead.
Why can't the animal raised for food be your friend too?!
I also keep seeing many of those memes saying that farm animals "have feelings", "build friendships", "remember faces", and so on. I wonder, how could people possibly not know it?! I'm sure that our ancestors knew it very well.
Because if you have farm animals in your life - working animals - it makes you know them better. The more you need them to do for you, the better you get to know them. They're like a bridge between us and wildlife. They don't freak out when they see us. They can be calm and peaceful till the last minutes of their life.
I think, that although it's important to have animals of different ages in your herd - I don't know if it works for other species, but certainly a herd of horses is more balanced when it's a family of all ages - harvesting them before they get old and weak saves them some dignity. Like my dog, he depends a lot on his incredible speed and hyperactivity. It's a huge part of who he is. With his many fears, he'd be very miserable losing sight, hearing, ability to run. I hope to put him down before the worst happens, and if the vet says that he's not old enough or not suffering enough to be euthanized, I'll say that he's aggressive to people.
Fortunately he's not there yet, but I totally believe that one can euthanize or harvest an animal BECAUSE they love it.
It makes me so angry when I see people look down on farmers or homesteaders who raise animals for food; as if they couldn't possibly care about nature, or love these animals, or try to preserve their breeds and wildlife. In fact, I think it's the meat eaters who can have the biggest impact on changing farming and approach to environment protection, because farm animals make us understand how nature works, while being adjusted to our ways and needs.
Perhaps it's another social change that's coming - growing plants for food is not a shame anymore, or a thing just for people who can't afford buying. Now, growing just ornamental plants that need a lot of outside maintenance is becoming a no-no, and maybe the same future awaits for domesticated animals. I do believe that it can give us not only a more nature friendly way of growing food (both plants and animals together), but also more respect for life, and its different stages, and a huge mindfulness lesson when it comes to death.
Maybe some people have a problem with animals not being anonymous anymore; on small farms, with heritage breeds, every individual is different and can express a unique personality.
I'm also a horse person, and there was a lot of drama in this community too. Opinions like "horses know if you're a meat eater, and they prefer vegetarians". Well, I knew one of the best horse trainers, who admitted to eating horse meat regularly. I think, that when the horse accepts being ridden, it's already like giving up their life. And it doesn't have to be any cruel breaking; we can totally make the horse want to do things we need it to do. It's usually safer that way, too. Don't horses know that we're capable of eating them anyway? I used to have a horse, and when I couldn't keep her anymore, I eventually gave her to some people who seemed kind (instead of just selling her, which was my initial plan). They had this weird idea, that she should give birth, because "every female should". They were vegans too! I don't know how these two concepts could exist together in their heads, but people are weird I guess. Well, the horse died during birth. Not their fault, I believe; it can happen to anyone. The foal survived. I'm now thinking that a "respectful horse harvest" would spare my mare a lot of pain. I wouldn't know how to arrange it anyway, but I just think about it differently now.
Another issue: respect for the animal body. Many people think that it's disrespectful to do all the head cutting, blood pouring, skinning, etc. What about people who donate their body to science? Are they disrespected too? I once listened to a conversation with a woman who works at forensic "body farm", seeing lots of human bodies decomposing. She said it made her believe in afterlife; that it's not possible that the physical body is all that there is. I believe so too, and in reincarnation, and I do believe that we can meet the souls of harvested animals in our next lives; and that they can be grateful for a painless and respectful death and a life full of purpose.