A plea from a Buddhist monk may change the way you feel about animals

(Collective Evolution | Alanna Ketler) I find it fascinating how, as a society, we so easily and thoughtlessly justify the murder of millions of animals on a daily basis, but find it heartbreaking to see a dog being abused or a dead animal lying on the road. Why the double standard?

Why do we pick and choose which animals to love and which to kill, experiment on, and exploit? Sometimes you’ll hear people say, “Well, dogs are smarter and cuter, they’re man’s best friend!” But in reality, pigs are much smarter than dogs and enjoy human companionship just as much, provided they are being treated correctly.

All animals are sentient beings, capable of feeling pain and experiencing emotion — and they all want to live! Their sole purpose on this Earth is not simply to feed hungry humans. In some parts of the world it may remain necessary to eat animals for survival, but in those cases, the animals at least had a fighting chance, and likely lived a full and happy life before being hunted. People who  hunt to survive generally respect the animals, give thanks for their offerings, and use every part of the animal.

Not so in North America. Consider how much food is wasted every day in the U.S. alone — not only are animals dying to feed us, they are dying to not feed us. This does not make sense.

In the video below, Buddhist monk and author of A Plea For The Animals Matthieu Ricard sums up the absurdity of this perfectly — check it out!

Source: Collective Evolution

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