CARPE DIEM: A chance to change our harmful habits of eating and abusing animals
If we reflect upon the opportunities we have to temper our harmful consumer habits. We can make kind choices in everything we eat, wear, buy and do to entertain ourselves.
INGRID NEWKIRK & GENE STONE: The live-animal markets in China, widely thought to be the source of the novel coronavirus, closed temporarily but are now reopening and, like those in the rest of Asia and even Europe and the U.S., are cause for alarm because they are breeding grounds for zoonotic diseases that can have fatal consequences for our own species.
On the good-news front, if you care about animals, those subjected to the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo were granted a reprieve when it was canceled; horses got a break when racetracks closed (coincidentally just after a scandal erupted and trainers and owners were indicted on a charge of felony doping); Spain banned bullfights; and even that drunken melee known as the “Running of the Bulls” is likely not to take place this year. Lions have come out to lie on the now-deserted, usually tourist-infested Kenyan park roads; elk herds have been playing in the surf along the Oregon coast; and deer have returned to graze on lawns that were once their ancestral homes…
Since dairy milk requires refrigeration but almond, soy, rice, oat, and nut milks do not, shoppers began stocking up on nondairy milk, and as a result, cows and their beloved calves, who are torn away shortly after birth, may not suffer as much in the dairy industry. Some percentage of these consumers will no doubt stick with their newfound, healthier dairy alternative…
Although some slaughterhouses have reopened, their temporary closures shed light on the abysmal working conditions inside them. Meanwhile, meat taste-alike products, such as Beyond Burgers, flew off the shelves, and consumers returned to staples like pasta with tomato sauce, rice and beans, baked potatoes, and vegetable soups and stews. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and others not only picketed the slaughter facilities with signs reading, “Stay Closed Forever. Meat Kills,” but also offered free vegan starter kits, recipes and tips for anyone who decided to use their lockdown time to try a vegan diet…
If we reflect upon the opportunities we have to temper our harmful consumer habits… So much depends on our acceptance of personal responsibility: We can make kind choices in everything we eat, wear, buy and do to entertain ourselves. We can demonstrate that we care about ending needless violence, show respect and consideration for all and live as if life truly counts by rejecting speciesism and affording all animals the care and compassion they deserve. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: