Anne Yongco

It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly selfish the human race is. It’s all about what we want, what we “need”, what’s the hot new thing that we simply must have—no matter who or what may be exploited in the process. after that scene where some garbage men in Mexico throwing a still-living, struggling stray dog into the back of a garbage truck and then compacting it, The horrifying and the gruesome images that were shown in the film made me want to run out of the auditorium. Dolphins herded into tiny harbors in Japanese coastal towns to be injured, beaten, and eventually killed for meat that is labeled as “whale meat”. And the whale hunting is a whole different story… Now, I know that sometimes groups and organizations, in an effort to support their own cause or agenda will seek out the information that best supports their viewpoint. However, even if the footage I saw in this film represents nothing more than a small fraction of the “animal” industry then it is still something that warrants careful thought. So that is exactly what I did, I thought. Then I realized that it’s not just the killing of animals that I found so repulsive. Realistically, we humans, are animals, and by nature, omnivores. Other animals hunt kill and eat their prey so why can’t we? We are and always have been part of the food chain. But are we really? Sure, at one time, humans would physically go out and hunt animals for the purpose of nourishment, clothing and maybe even shelter. However these humans showed respect to the animals they killed. They realized the animals were necessary for their survival and that these animals could not just be slaughtered into extinction. The people took from nature only what they needed to survive not unlike the other animals on the planet. Now though, we as humans drown ourselves on the flesh and blood of animals with little or no respect to the beasts slaughtered for our benefit. To us, these animals do not have a face, or feelings. So, that to me became the deciding factor. Are these animals being respected? After watching videos of slaughter house workers laughing while they were stomping on chickens, trying to kill pigs with a wrench and cursing and beating animals into submission, I realized there is no respect. No longer do we view our relationship with the animal kingdom as a symbiotic one. Instead, we raise animals in captivity, slaughter them en masse, package them up neatly in cellophane containers and pretty boxes, never thinking twice about the animals that were slaughtered for our benefit or how they were slaughtered. We have removed ourselves from the food chain and turned our backs on the treatment of animals. I have always held a firm belief in not preaching to people and telling them what to believe. So, I will hold true to that here and not tell people what to believe. I only ask that those people reading this take the time to watch Earthlings. Take an uncensored view of the various animal industries with an open mind. The video is graphic and at least for me, difficult to watch at times, but consider this, if you can’t watch the animals being slaughtered, if you are disgusted by their living conditions, if you are appalled by the treatment of these animals, then maybe you should re-think your own choices. After watching Earthlings, I can’t promise I will never eat meat again. I can’t promise I will never own a pet, but after watching Earthlings, the one thing I can be sure of is that before I do any of those things, I will think. That’s the least any of us can do.