I have friends of all eating persuasions. One of the things I hear quite often from non-vegans is that they get the feeling vegans care more about other species than they do their own. Is it true? Do vegans value other animals above their own species? Of course not. Most vegans believe that since humans are truly just another animal species, we should have the same respect for other animals as we do for ourselves. Now, let’s delve a little deeper, shall we?
Vegans do have a problem with people using animals.
Humans are the only animal I know of that captures and over-breeds other species for food, entertainment and other reasons. While other animals certainly kill and eat their prey, they do not subject them to a life of forced servitude. They do not breed them just to kill them and eat them. Other animals truly respect the animals they kill for food. They give them a fighting chance. What’s more? They kill because meat is their natural food.
The great debate over what humans are
There is a lot of debate about whether humans are carnivores, omnivores or herbivores. Vegans believe that the evidence shows we are natural herbivores. We are primates. Therefore, all the things we do to prey on other animals are completely unnecessary. Other animals suffer and die for no reason at the hands of the humans who eat them. Vegans don’t hate other people because they engage in this activity, or pay for it by buying animal products. We hate the activity itself. We also hate the fact that this behavior is so deeply ingrained in our society that most people think of it as natural.
What’s the big deal?
Well, the big deal is that anytime we engage in an unnatural activity, we upset the balance of nature. Some activities, such as over-breeding animals for food and other uses, create more toxins and pollution than the earth is designed to handle. Even hunting for food upsets the natural balance, especially when we engage in “population control” through mass hunting. To top it off, we move into areas that are natural habitats, pushing out the animals that belong there, then complain because they move into our own populated areas. Vegans don’t love other animals more than humans, but we do see the injustices.
Other animals don’t cause global imbalance and pollution
Nope, that’s all on us folks. Nature is perfectly capable of managing herself, when left alone to do it. The earth is designed to keep every species and every blade of grass thriving when they follow the natural order. However, when nature is manipulated to suit the needs of one species, things go very, very wrong. Notice that the first three letters in manipulation are M.A.N. There’s a reason for that. Humans cause 100% of planetary destruction by manipulating nature to suit our own selfish needs. No other animal does this. While we have bigger brains, we don’t use that advantage for good. So, in that respect, maybe other animals are somewhat better than us.
If a baby and a pig were drowning, which would a vegan save?
I wrote a humorous article on this subject just a few days ago. But seriously, folks, these hypothetical questions are just plain crazy. Of course, I would save the baby. All species have a natural inclination for survival. It’s instinctual to save the animal of your own species. We are animals too, you know? Years of denial and false information may have led us to feel superior to other animals. The truth is, though, we’re not. We were simply lucky enough to have developed larger brains. Now, if we could just use those brains to see that it’s wrong to dominate other species, we could solve a lot of the issues we face today. Because the real problem is not vegans loving animals more. It’s non-vegans loving them less, to the point where they’re treated as products, not earthlings.
Vegans don’t love other animals more than people.
We love them the same. That’s because we know they are living, breathing, feeling, caring, fragile, sentient beings, just like us. When their babies are taken away, they miss them horribly. They mourn for them. They bellow and bray for months. When they are de-beaked, castrated, de-horned, ground and even skinned alive, they feel pain, just as we would. When they are in line to be slaughtered, they cry out and struggle to get away, just like we would. No, folks, I don’t love animals more than people. I love them the same, because they are the same.
More from Jaipi:
What Do Vegans Feed Their Pets?
Why Humane Vegans Don’t Eat Humanely Raised Animal Products
The Vegan Tofu Reliance Myth
