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I spent most of my childhood and teenage years on my parent's farm. We had chickens, turkeys, geese, pigs, goats, horses, sheep and for a while there, we had a cow. We also had about 20 barn cats because there are always lots of mice on a farm. I have some nice memories of being a kid, but for the most part...things were not good. Things were pretty bad, actually and consequently I found refuge in books and most of my closest companions were our farm animals.

Sure, I had some friends at school, but I was the "smart" one, so naturally I was considered to be strange. Granted I was and still am a weirdo, but be that as it may...I felt more at ease with the non-judgemental acceptance of my animal friends. Most domestic animals are pretty at ease with people and if you are not mean to them, they accept you. With pets, this grows into affection and trust.

My parents did not employ farm workers so my sister and I had plenty of chores to do. From time to time, animals would be slaughtered, and there were associated chores with that too. I didn't do the actual killing obviously, but sometimes had to hold down a chicken or be on clean up crew. I have always been a pretty imaginative and empathetic person and also extremely soft hearted where animals are concerned. These chores were nothing less than emotional torture to me. I could see the fear and the struggle to get away. Even a creature with no real intellect will struggle to stay alive, it is a natural instinct. It was all too easy to imagine the pain and fear the animal was feeling, as I had known plenty of that myself. I projected more than was healthy, I guess because to this day I cannot bear to even see a commercial that comes on television regarding abused pets. It makes me cry, and I hate that I am like that. I still can recall the day I came out to the bus stop and saw one of my favorite cats that had been hit by a car and how he died while I patted him, blood streaming out of his mouth. I hate to see pain and suffering, I really do.

I guess the point of all this is....this is primarily why I don't eat much meat. I am certainly not saying that meat eating is immoral. Most species on this planet hunt and kill their meals in one way or another. I occasionally eat meat myself. I just wanted to present my own take on meat, and why I choose to generally avoid it. What a person chooses to eat is their business, it is their body. I honestly don't care what another person chooses to do with their body, as long as they are lawful and don't coerce or hurt anybody else with their choices. I think it is important simply to respect and care for people.