MNN - Mother Nature Network

are slaughtered yearly and 20 billion fish not including the bi-catch. Domestic animals are kept against their own will. They have no say regarding their life, how it will be lived and for how long. Cattle are then slaughterd, at the young age of around 2 1/2 or so. Even though they can live to be over 20 Pigs are raised mostly on concrete flooring and only allowed to go out on dirt when we allow them. These animals are smarter than your pet dog or cat, yet we feel free to treat them so differently, like they were a commodity. They too are slaughtered at less then two years old and normally live around 15 to 20 years years. Chickens are raised for the most part in small areas or cages. They are only allowed to live a small portion of their lifespan and then they are slaughtered. They too are sentient beings like our dogs and cats. Yet we treat dogs with respect and cats too. Would you do any of these things to your pets? We catch fish with hooks gouging their mouths causing much pain and sometimes left on the line till they die or taken out of the water to slowly die of suffocation. We consider that humane or ok. We feel ok to raise them in ponds under very unnatural conditions and also killing them long before their natural life span. We as humans need to show respect to other sentient beings on this planet and evolve past the, "it taste good mentality". Humans are said to taste good too. I applaud the direction Shea Gunther is headed but we need to treat all sentient beings with respect and not raise them cause they taste good. I am a conservationist and interprative naturalist (rainforest guide) in Costa Rica for many years. I have seen the damage and suffering raising animals for food has done to the animals and the land around them. The next step is to just have the animals roaming about providing the manure and eggs they can produce to keep the system functioning. lets practice more love and compassion for all sentient beings.