Will Becoming A Vegetarian Make Me Less Of An Asshole?

by Cookie

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I came across a couple of articles this morning that simultaneously made me feel sick to my stomach and got my blood boiling.

One of them was about two assholes in Sri Lanka who decided to torture some eagles to death.  You know, by literally skinning them alive and hacking off their legs.

The other is about how 15 cougars in Alberta got “unintentionally” killed in noose wire traps that had been laid out to kill wolves instead.

What the actual ever living fuck is wrong with people?

At least the psychos in Sri Lanka were arrested.  Because seriously, if someone is gonna do that for shits and giggles to an animal, it’s only a matter of time before they move on to bigger and better things.  Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll move on to whatever dickhead decided that trapping any animal in this way was a good idea.

Apparently, it is perfectly legal for trappers to set traps like this.   Bait the wolves with a dead carcass and then basically booby trap it with these fucking snares.  And then let whatever animal who happens to come along suffer and excruciating death.

Look.  I’m not a spokesperson for PETA.  I’m no longer a vegetarian, and I am ashamed to admit that I have a pair of moccasins with rabbit fur on them.  I support hunters and feel that hunters play a VERY large role in conservation efforts for species and more importantly habitats.  I think it is reasonable for someone to hunt with a bow or gun and use what they kill for food or other practical uses.

But this shit?

It’s cruel.  It’s not even a fair fight.  It’s cowardly and disgusting.

And by the way, so sorry you accidentally killed 15 cougars instead of wolves.  Sorry you missed out on your “target species”.

So here’s the paradox I face:

When I think about the things that go on on farms, on kill floors, and even in the fucking bush, I try to just not think about it.  I move on to the next news article and tell myself it’s because it makes me so sad to hear about that stuff.  But really, I don’t want to hear about it because I like eating steak.  I like eating chicken and ribs and all of the delicious things, and if I don’t think about how they were once living beings, I can justify my omnivore status.

But I don’t know what’s harder.  Giving that up or justifying myself.  Does feeling outraged at articles like the ones I read this morning and still eating a hamburger make me a hypocrite?  Does wearing my moccassins, even though they  are authentically made by an aboriginal maker, make me an asshole?  Are my feelings and beliefs in paradox with my actions?

Probably.  Most likely.  How do I look at my own furry companions and then feel like it’s ok to barbarically kill their wild cousins?  And yet wolves and cougars and eagles kill and eat other living beings, it’s the way of the food chain.  UGH.

So what to do?  Do I switch back to a vegetarian lifestyle, even though everyone else in the house still eats meat?  And then I have to prepare it despite what I believe?

Adulting is hard.  Tell me what to do, Bitches.