Dear Editor,
Columnist Cynthia Walker gave far from
”
a realistic view
”
in her column last week. At one point she quoted Mahmoud
Ascarie’s statement,
”
I believe that animals have a right to enjoy their lives.
”
She then asks the question,
”
Do mountain lions have a ‘right
”
to eat deer? Does that not infringe on the deer’s ‘right’ to
enjoy life?
”
Dear Editor,
Columnist Cynthia Walker gave far from “a realistic view” in her column last week. At one point she quoted Mahmoud Ascarie’s statement, “I believe that animals have a right to enjoy their lives.” She then asks the question, “Do mountain lions have a ‘right” to eat deer? Does that not infringe on the deer’s ‘right’ to enjoy life?”
I find that question absurd and easy to answer: Of course the mountain lion has the right to eat deer. Mountain lions have a limited and specific source of food, and they need to kill and eat deer to stay alive. However, those same conditions don’t apply to humans. Yes, at one point in history we needed to hunt and kill to survive, but that is no longer the case. Humans can live healthy lives without the consumption of animals, as proven by the millions of vegetarians in our world.
She went on to say, “I think it entirely justifiable to treat different animals differently based on my perception of them … I eat chickens and cows and pigs and turkeys and lambs because they taste good and are commercially available. I do not eat dogs, because I am sentimental about them …”
I wholeheartedly disagree. Why is it okay to eat an animal just because it holds no sentimental value in your mind? I believe that sentimentality should not play a role in food choice. What makes the life of a pig any less than that of a cat? An animal is an animal; cows feel no less pain when they’re killed then would a dog. Her sentimental attachment to certain species doesn’t seem a very fair way to judge the “importance” of animal life.
And who is she to pass judgment on importance? Important to who, exactly? The cow she eats for dinner may not have an impact on her life, but who are we to say how that cow might have effected the lives of other cows? That might sound funny to some people, but think about it before you pass judgment: Humans can do amazing things, but the only animals that benefit from these achievements are humans. Well, why can’t the same rule apply to all other animals? Just because their achievements and abilities don’t have an impact on our species doesn’t give us the right to belittle them.
Carly Apuzzo, Gilroy
