Letters: All animals feel fear and pain

Dear Editor,

I was encouraged by the ending of Lawana Quest’s comments [Kittens abandoned all over Langley, Dec. 9 Letters, Langley Advance]. 

It is, at best, pure laziness and selfishness, or at worst, apathy and low moral conduct to abandon domestic animals, baby or otherwise. But I was oddly struck at how the letter ended, “It is a sad fact that some people think cats and kittens are disposable. But they are living beings that feel fear just as we do, that feel cold and hunger and pain.”

This is the same reasoning that vegans use when explaining to omnivores why we don’t eat animals. In fact, all animals feel pain and suffering. All animals treasure their lives and freedom, not just those which humans have arbitrarily classified as pets. 

Forward-thinking physicians and nutritionists, as well as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics have endorsed plant-based diets. 

If there’s no survival reason to eat animals, why do so? Any reason constitutes an excuse. 

Alice Walker of The Colour Purple wrote, “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than blacks were made for whites, or women for men.”

Patricia Tallman, Langley