Should I Be a Vegetarian? (Your Thoughts -- warning, long post!)

A few months ago, a friend of mine revealed that he had become the Suffolk County head of an organization called Move On! – an anti-war movement. I was quite envious because there aren’t that many things I feel that passionately about, in my own life.

So, I started thinking about what issues I did feel that passionately about; and – around that time – I started noticing even more advertisements and news stories about animal abuse. And I realized, I feel that strongly about that issue.

In ascending order, here is my hierarchy of ‘heinousness’ in regards to animal abuse (and, sorry, ahead of time, for the non-communications bent this blog has taken, recently – I’ll actually have a professional-related piece for my next post … I promise!)

7. Slaughtering animals for food.

Make no mistake, I still think there’s something a little wrong with people who do this; but compared to some of the other entries on this list, this is fairly benign, I suppose. I cannot imagine spending EVERY SINGLE DAY killing animals. I simply cannot. It’s especially perplexing because, well, to be blunt, we don’t NEED animal protein to live – many, many people are vegetarians, and they live extremely healthy lives; in fact, the lack of red meat in your diet severely reduces several health issues.

And, now, Marc Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has revealed that, for 2011, he will ONLY eat meat that he has personally killed.

What troubles me (apart from sadists, which comes later) is the barbaric ways we use to execute the animals. I can almost – ALMOST – accept humane, pain-free killing (almost); but in some cases, the killing is anything but. Crab legs, for example – we have established machines to slice off the legs, while leaving the animal writhing in pain. Then, it’s tossed into a bin to die (it takes too much time to kill it; so, instead, they just expire, eventually).

And don’t get me started on veal.

Still, there’s hope – scientists are already working on “growing” meat (similar to how we create yogurt). I had joked about this years ago; but now, it’s actually a reality.

6. Animal Neglect

I have to put this one this low because, in many cases, the individual is mentally ill. There are many stories about people who are found to have 27 cats, 6 dogs, a cheetah, a parrot and 4 gerbils – all running around loose. These people are ill. I have 3 cats and a dog, and I already think that’s close to too many.

So, this entry is just for the people who are mentally ill. Still, they’re not without blame; someone should be monitoring them, etc. – but, I think this failing is with everyone (if they don’t have family, then the government should be intervening – in  no way should you be able to amass that many pets).

5. Hunters

This isn’t a case of “wow, I think hunters aren’t that bad;” but more of a case of “wait til you see what follows.” Thankfully, we do have *some* laws that restrict hunters, and most hunters seem to be interested in eating what they hunt. Still, I bristle when this is referred to as a “sport.” When a thug kills a policeman, who has a bulletproof vest and a gun, we don’t say the criminal was “the better sportsman” – we call him a killer. Call it like it is. When we outfit animals with guns, armor and/or anything else to truly combat the hunter, I’ll call it a sport; until then, it’s killing. The biggest risk the hunter has is being shot by another hunter, or going home empty-handed. Boo-hoo.

4. Animal MEDICAL Research

This is a tricky one; but, I have to think, we’ve evolved our computers well enough to be able to emulate a human reaction to medicine, etc.

I can remember reading an article in my local paper years ago [stop reading this paragraph if you’re squeamish]: It outlined a method how they tested for stroke medication. Of course, to do this, they had to  CREATE a stroke; which they did, on chimpanzees, by removing its eyeball. While it was awake. OK – now they have a stroke victim, which they can operate on.

The fact that the story still sickens me, years later, speaks to the vulgarity of the story.

3. Luxury Items and Animal PRODUCT Research

Yeah, I’m looking at you – fur-wearers and consumers of makeup that performs animal testing. It’s one thing to eat meat. It’s another to say, “Thank God there’s penicillin,” but, there’s a whole different level of contempt for those who continue to purchase the goods made by massive killings. Harp seals, for instance; who are beaten – but not to death – then skinned alive, to be left bleeding on the ice – probably praying something will eat them to put them out of their misery.

2. General Savagery

In all of these cases, one prays that there are sane people operating in those fashions. Still, we constantly see stories about the truly deranged that delight in their jobs – those who take sick pleasure in being more vicious than necessary when it comes to slaughtering animals – kicking them, torturing them, etc. One can only hope there is a special, even-lower-level of Hell for these individuals.

1. Sport/Entertainment

Here, I’m referring to dog-fighting, cock-fighting. I’ve noticed an uptick in the last few weeks on advertising from the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Again, this is some horrifying stuff – bear baiting (where the teeth and claws are removed; the bear is tethered to the ground and dogs are encouraged to bite it until it dies – for spectators’ amusement). And, of course, bull-fighting (where, even if the bull DOES win (against the fighter and his SWORD), the bull is still put to death – hey, congrats on your win!).

And, of course, I find as much fault with the spectators of these events as the participants.

Whew – so, where does that leave me?

Years ago, I had a book – The Book of Questions – which asked thought-provoking questions. One question (if I recall correctly) was along these lines:

If someone offered to pay you $100, would you tear the wings off a butterfly to kill it? Would you step on a cockroach?

And, the answers are obvious (and so should be the point – life is life, yet we’ll step on a cockroach for free; and we’d probably decline the $100).

So, is that the case? Is life really life? If so, why do we not get equally upset at seeing a cow (or chicken) killed for our food, as we do watching a dog clubbed to death in Thailand (where it will also be food)?

It leaves me at a crossroads.

For years, I’ve avoided confronting the issue – I never read Fast Food Nation or visited a slaughterhouse. I chose the ostrich approach. I’m not quite as cavalier as my wife (who definitely subscribes to this mentality), but I’m definitely sensitive to it. Should I *be* a vegetarian? I do love the taste of chicken. Should I be more like Marc Zuckerberg? Probably not.

In the end, I think it comes down to humane treatment. If the in vitro meat was successful, I would eagerly switch; but, wouldn’t the animals still be killed? Sure they would.

When I was younger, I used to send money all the time to the harp seal charity; before learning – of course – that probably fewer than $.05 of each dollar I sent actually went to the cause. I like PETA’s mission; not-so-much a fan of their approach (since most are now labeled as lunatics); so where does that leave me, again?

I ask, legitimately, as I would like to do something to further the cause; but I know I’m weak-stomached enough to not want to immerse myself into the darkness that this subject presents.

Thoughts?