I'm sick of being called a vegetable killer.
What's the difference between a bean and an animal? Who are you to say that cucumber does not feel pain?
This argument is asinine. First of all, animals have nervous systems and vegetables don't. When I cut up an onion, there is no neural reaction. Nothing. It just cuts up. When I stab a chicken's face, there is a neural reaction. If you don't want to pull out the microscope for evidence, screeching is a good indicator.
That is all the evidence we need. But lets take it a step further. Let's pretend that there is some crazy, undetectable, pain sensor we can't see. In this scenario, plants feel the same pain as animals. There is still a huge difference. A farmed plant's existence would be completely natural up until the time of the harvest. Day in and day out, it sits in soil, as all plants do. Factory farmed animals to not share this luxury. Most never see the light of day before they're slaughtered. That little fact reveals little of their pitiful existence. I don't need to go into the details. Plants have a natural existence, while animals do not.
This second argument should not even be needed.
Most people don't hunt homeless dogs for sport. Most people don't torture cats for amusement. We live our everyday life based on the simple assumption that others exist and have unique experiences. If we see an animal in pain, we FEEL for that animal. This is a beautiful part of humanity.
The reality is that Chickens, Fish, Cows and Pigs all feel. They are no different than our pets. Yet, we try to justify our actions by saying they're no different than a cucumber. It's embarrassing.
That same logic is what justified the holocaust for many Germans. Jews were lesser things.
It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.
"It all comes down to pain and suffering. Not intelligence, not strength, not social class or civil right. Pain and suffering are in themselves bad, and should be prevented or minimized irrespective of the race, sex or species of the being that suffers. We are all animals of this
planet. We are all creatures. Nonhuman animals experience sensations just like we do. They too are strong, intelligent, industrious, mobile and
evolutional. They too are capable of growth and adaptation. Like us, first and foremost, they are earthlings. Like us, they are surviving. Like us, they all seek their own comfort rather than discomfort. Like us, they express degrees of emotions. Like us, they are alive, most of them being vertebrae, just like us." - Earthlings
