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I used to harm animals. I used to hurt animals. In fact, I used to kill animals.
Don't get me wrong: I wasn't some sort of sociopath who got sadistic kicks by hitting cats or throwing dogs around. I've always loved the pets I've been fortunate enough to have all my life and I've sobbed like a baby when they've died. Pets have been amongst my best friends. But as I stroked those pets with one hand, my other hand was busy inflicting cruel and painful death on other animals. Even worse, I didn't even do it myself. I was such a coward that I paid someone else to do the dirty work for me. I paid someone else to harm, hurt and kill animals in ways that I didn't fully understand and that I didn't want to confront. I just ate the lamb roast dinners and wore the leather jackets without ever getting a drop of blood of my hands. I didn't hold the knife or butcher the corpse but make no mistake: I was the killer.
My money funded death on an industrial scale, and contributed to the premature demise of three billion animals a day. Let that number sink in. In human terms, it's like slaughtering the entire population of the world every two-and-a-bit days. It's an exercise not in survival or even in taste, but in premeditated brutality. If someone were to treat pet dogs and cats in such a way, they would be in court and, quite possibly, locked up. And nobody would complain. So, objectively, what's the difference? Why does the brutal treatment of dogs and cats so upset our moral compass, while similar - or worse - treatment of pigs, cows, chickens, fish and other species seemingly present so little cause for concern? Indeed, when the victim is a celebration dinner, such treatment actually has us reaching for our money to fund more violence. It's uncomfortable to acknowledge that our actions cause harm and death to sentient beings who don't want to die but the harsh truth is that animals don't give you their life. They have it taken by force. For your benefit.
I was a meat-eater for 46 years of my 49 years. Only by spending time with animals and getting to know them did I come to learn that they don't exist to provide me with meals and coats, but are unique and intelligent individuals as worthy of life as I am. And not only are they worthy of life, they want life just like you and I do. They want to be with family, friends and social networks just like I do. They - and their habitats - serve a crucial role in looking after our planet. Why do we want to negatively affect that? Why should we negatively affect that? For a bacon sandwich?
We have no right.
I'm not vegan for you or even for me, particularly. But for them. Because it's objectively right. Making the change required not only gaining some knowledge of what I was paying for and how unnecessary it is. It also took some self-examination and a willingness to admit that I'd been horrifically wrong for 46 years. I was - no, I AM - responsible for thousands of animal deaths in my time and that weighs on my conscience. While none of us can undo the past, we can make the future better. Most of us claim to be animal lovers but being an animal lover is incompatible with eating them. We only have to align our actions with our morals. As soon as we do so, we know there is only one possible route to take.
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