The sad things that go on in the world

I know most people are still in a joyous mood celebrating CNY, but let us never ever forget that beneath all the happy events, there are still a lot of sad things that happen in the world.

Aini Osman shared this: http://www.facebook.com/notes/dunia-macam-macam/sup-kucing-kari-kucing-rendang-kucing/316935998344289

(It’s about making cat soup, cat curry, etc. to eat. In general, making and eating cat cuisine.)

The photos are definitely not for the weak-hearted.

She asks if there is anything we can do to stop such acts of cruelty.

Yes, there certainly is.

Legislation to protect the animals (dependent on the government) and education by example (dependent on us).

Let’s forget the government for now, because there are only two things we can do to make a change in government:
(1) Elect a better government, but this is dependent on clean and fair elections.
(2) Stand for elections yourself and as Gandhi says, “Be the change you want to see in the world”.

If we cannot do the above, then the next best thing is to educate by example….long term.

To stop people from eating cats (or dogs, or rabbits, or monkeys), I think the best is for us to stop eating meat or at least, eat less meat. Otherwise, where do you draw the line that some animals are pets while others are dinner?

Where do you draw the line, really?

I know people who keep chickens and rabbits as their beloved pets. Why, I too had a whole family of chickens and rabbits as pets when I was young.

How do you draw that line, to classify which animal is a pet and which is food?

You can’t, can you?

You can’t, because they are all living beings capable of feeling and most importantly, capable of pain.

So, as my vet used to tell me, as much as he loves dogs and cats, he cannot despise those who choose to eat them because he eats chickens, pigs and goats.

I have a friend who forbids people from saying “eating pig”- he said he wasn’t eating pigs, he was eating pork. That’s just a matter of semantics for me. He IS eating pigs. People eat cows, not beef. People eat goats and sheep, not mutton. People eat pigs, not pork. People eat deer, antelope and wildboar, not venision. And people definitely eat chickens and ducks. Let’s not use words to mask what we do or to make it sound less cruel. That’s cheating.

So, can we stop people from eating cats?

Yes, we can.

Educate by example.

Stop eating animals. Or, if you cannot, then eat less animals.

Otherwise, adopt another school of thought which accepts that humans and animals would have to eat some living thing (this includes plants) in order to survive. So, argue if you must, even vegetarians eat plants (which are alive).

I published this on 25th Dec. To be fair, the argument does hold water.

Every living thing, from mammals, birds, and fish to plants, fungi, and bacteria, eats other living things. Humans are part of the food web; but for the artifices of cremation and tightly sealed caskets, all of us would eventually be recycled into other life forms. It is natural for people, like other omnivores, to participate in this web by eating animals. And it is ethically defensible — provided we refrain from causing gratuitous suffering.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/former-vegans-explain-why-they-eat-meat.html#ixzz1hYkobjeY

For me, the most important phrase above would be “provided we refrain from causing gratuitous suffering”. Maybe you could consider free-range animals?  It is still a suffering to be forcibly killed, but factory-farmed animals suffer a lot more.

Ultimately, this is not a perfect world.

In the Buddhist scriptures, it is said that in the high heavens (which we can all go to IF we do enough good), the heavenly beings do not need to eat. Their “food” is happiness. When they are happy, they are full. There is no such thing as gourmet dishes and posh restaurants in that realm. There is no such thing as food. People live on happiness alone.

Now, that’s heaven….for the animals and the heavenly beings!