Undergraduate / "why I shouldn't contribute to such atrociousness" - personal statement [5]

Friday afternoon. There I was lying in bed flipping through the channels looking for something worth watching. My Super Sweet Sixteen- no-, The Office- seen it-, PETA: I am an Animal- hmm, what's this?- I turned to that HBO channel right when the documentary was in the middle of a rather peculiar scene; a group of men and woman behind the glass of a high fashion boutique wearing paint splattered fur coats holding up signs that read "Death For Sale." That's not something you see everyday so I got comfortable and continued watching. As the documentary progressed so did my mental state; little did I know that the actions of those so called crazy activists would soon lead to my enlightenment.

"When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." (Ingrid Newkirk) Although a very controversial line, it was when I heard this that I realized my meat-eating, leather- wearing habits had to come to an end. Who was I to be taking the life of a defenseless creature placed upon this earth by the same God that put me here? What had seemed normal for so many years now seemed inhumane. I was done contributing to this pitiless industry; that was the last day I ever consumed the flesh of an animal and its been nearly three years since.

Now when I go out to eat with others there's always someone there who asks why. Why not enjoy that delicious chicken or that juicy piece of steak? Because it had a heartbeat just like you and I and a mother and quite possibly the ability to feel fear. "But that's what they're meant for, to be eaten, its how the food chain works. "And it's then that I realize humans live for the inferiority complex; we've been raised in such a way that we think our ability to reason is what makes us greater than any other species on the planet. So I ask myself, if we're the only species that is capable of complex mental processes why not use that for the greater good. It's true other animals do eat each other, but why should we, if we're so smart as we like to believe why not find alternatives. After all, that is what the Agriculture era did; at the discovery of natural resources and availability of land we developed farming. Human's meat eating ways stem from our primitive ancestors who had no other option but to hunt and scavenge, and many have yet to realize that we're no longer neanderthals and we're capable of much more.

Far too many people seem to think a change to vegetarianism wont make a difference, but the truth is I probably save at least 50 animals a year. That's 50 less cries and shrieks of pain, 50 less cramped up chickens and pigs, 50 reasons too many as to why I shouldn't contribute to such atrociousness.