Animals

Somewhere along the line after going vegetarian, I somehow became even more of an animal lover than I was before. I've always loved animals - I was obsessed with dogs as a kid, and the only sporting event I cared to watch on television was the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Now? Now there's something different in me. Realizing that eating meat was not the right choice for me somehow changed my way of thinking about all animals.

Snakes still terrify me, but I wish no ill will on them. If you had asked me before, I would have been okay with killing them to get them away from me. Now? Oh, I will panic if I see one, but I don't want them dead. I just want them to hang out somewhere else, far away from me.

Spiders? I've never been afraid of them, and am actually okay with sharing my home with them. While I also wish no ill will on other insects, spiders keep that population down, by doing their normal, natural spider job - and I am okay with that. I am okay with other insects in my house, unless they are in some way harmful to myself or my pets (sorry ticks and fleas!). If I don't want them here, I catch them and take them outside.

We sell live fish at my job, and it drives me nuts. Live fish for pets, of course... but when they are delivered and end up dying almost immediately, my heart breaks. When the vendor is careless and doesn't check the water levels before dropping them off, and that causes them to die, I am both sad and angry. Those poor creatures didn't ask to be dropped off in water with conditions where they couldn't survive - and yet they were, and it killed them. I don't generally care that it means we lost money in sales - I care that innocent little fish lives were snubbed out because of greed and lack of compassion for living creatures.

I am more and more convinced every day that I should have gone to school to become a veterinary technician. I've heard that the money isn't great (but to be fair, the money isn't great doing what I do either), but it would be so much more rewarding than what I am doing now. To feel like one is making a difference in the life of an animal is the greatest reward - and to be able to do that on a larger scale than I currently can would be amazing. But I am broke, and have old student loans that still need to be paid back before I can even considering doing anything else with my life... I fear I may just be destined to live life of helping animals on a much smaller scale, taking in special needs cats as spots open up in my home (we're all full here - and I can't take advantage of my landlord's kindness in letting me have the pets I want to have), and I will foster and save kittens if I can.

I am far from perfect - I still have lifestyle changes that I should make to be even more kind to animals (trying to quit dairy is next on my list, I think. I just love cheese so much, though... I did give up regular milk years ago and turned to almond milk). I need to start buying eggs from local farmers with happy, healthy chickens...

But I am proud of my baby steps. I am proud of being vegetarian for over two years (though I was pescatarian for about half of that time, but I am trying really hard not to eat seafood anymore). I am proud of the cats I've been able to save from the euthanasia list. I am proud of how far I have come.