Why I Believe Everyone Should Spend More Time with Animals

I firmly believe that everyone should spend more time with animals, whether this be whilst out and about in nature or taking the time to visit a sanctuary full of rescued farm animals and here’s why…

As consumers it has been made extremely easy for us to disassociate ourselves from the fact that the ‘food’ we eat was once a living being, a someone who had emotions, relationships and the capacity to feel suffering and pain. We are taught from a young age to love some animals (such as cats and dogs) and to view others as merely ‘products’ undeserving of our compassion. I myself was guilty of that, until I started to question where it was my food came from.

How is it possible, I wondered, that causing harm to a cat or dog in our society is a criminal offence and yet everyday millions of animals are being slaughtered and no one bats an eyelid? Do only domesticated animals feel pain and suffering which is why we choose not to slaughter them? Of course not, but the industries don’t want you to know this, or at least don’t want you to be conscious of this, hence why most of these beautiful beings are shut away in slaughter houses where they can’t be seen and their screams can’t be heard. They are trapped in unsanitary, confined spaces that make them scared and distressed, leading them to become aggressive or develop unnatural, bizarre behaviours. This is the image that is often portrayed of them: the ‘dirty’ or ‘stupid’ farm animals that ‘don’t know any better’. The very same image that people fail to question and therefore sadly choose to turn a blind eye to.

It would take less than five minutes on a sanctuary full of rescued farm animals to realise this is not the case. That when animals are not being threatened or harmed that their characteristics are so different. That cows really are just massive dogs who love to have their tummies rubbed and that pigs, contrary to popular belief, really value personal hygiene. In less than five minutes you would realise that all animals are individuals in their own right, with different personalities who have their own likes and dislikes- just as us humans do. People would realise that there is no difference between species of animals and that they are able to make connections with ‘farmed’ animals just as easily as they do with the furry friends they share their home with.

However this realisation does make the reality of what we do to these sentient beings a much harder pill to swallow. As the percentage of animals that are actually rescued and that are able to live out the rest of their lives free from harm is minuscule in comparison to the millions of that are being needlessly murdered every minute of every day for the sake of human consumption. It is therefore our responsibility, as the consumers to fill the gap that is our disconnect and wake up to the reality of the harm we are causing. To break through that barrier that society has built for us and to make the connection between what we put on our plates and the suffering another being was forced to endure in order for it to get there.

If it has not dawned on you before then please understand that it is not slaughterhouses that these animals are being rescued from, it’s human consumption. Without human demand for the meat and dairy industries and the profit from these, slaughterhouses would not exist. Please, please be aware that every single time you buy an animal product that you are choosing to give your money to a violent industry and paying to support animal cruelty. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be like this. We now more than ever before have the freedom to make better choices and to pick foods that don’t cause harm to other beings.

So what are you waiting for? Get yourself out there and get to know some gentle giants down at your local sanctuary, I promise you won’t regret it.