Earthlings

Speaking of love, maybe it is time for a slight twist on the subject to talk about something other than self-love.

Ever since I've started to recover from anxiety and perfectionism, I have been feeling a different kind of compassion towards animals. I felt it in a particularly strong way today. I used to be scared of dogs living on the street, as there are still a few ones that I come across occasionally and feel intimidated thinking that they might bite me or attack me. As I was walking home today, I saw a bunch of street dogs walk past me and I didn't feel anything other than affection. Even though they looked a little shabby and malnourished I didn't think anything other than how adorable creatures they were. I think they sensed it as well.

There is a documentary about animal cruelty that was being shown in this year's independent movie festival that I wanted to see but didn't have the time. It is called Earthlings. As I was reading some reviews of it , I found out that the movie is already posted on the internet, on google videos. So I was really excited and glad to be able to watch the movie at home for free.

I'm absolutely appalled by things I've seen in the movie. I'm so glad I saw it on the internet because I wouldn't be able to keep watching it if I saw them on big screen in a dark movie theatre. Once again, I have witnessed how vicious us humans can become at times.

I don't think any animal would attack a human on purpose, just for fun. If they do, I believe it's because they have been mistreated by humans in the past and thus developped hostile feelings towards them or because they have become "humanized" or learned to act human-like as a result of being over-exposed to the same niche with humans. I've read somewhere that most cats usually stop eating when they feel full as long as they know they will be able to find food easily the next time. But this is not the case with most pet cats. They keep eating as long as given food, even though they must be assured that food will be provided to them. This is because they have developped human-like eating behaviours since humans are one of the rare kind of species who would like to indulge in food after the point of feeling full. I realise that this is highly unscientific and might very well be false but I feel that it is part of the explanation as to why animals can act like humans sometimes.

I would definitely become a vegetarian if I still lived in the States. Right now, I decided to become a vegetarian in theory but I cannot really say that to my parents because if I told them that, they would do everything they possibly can to make me eat meat again. They would cook meat almost everyday and give me hell for not eating it. This is because I'm anemic and my parents don't think I can survive without meat. We are a family of omnivores and we generally eat vegetable dishes almost every day. So I don't intend changing that by disclosing the fact that I decided to become vegetarian. This will be our little secret! So from now on, I will try to eat as little meat as possible because I don't think that my conscience can allow me to do otherwise.

You can watch the documentary on Google Video. It has really graphic images, but I encourage you to see the movie and share your feelings about it with me.