I'm still thinking a lot about animals and humans and our relationships. It's so confusing to me, how so many people (especially veternarians) put so much heart and soul into helping animals but then turn around and eat them or the "products" they produce.
I have a friend that I totally love but she's so hypocritical on this level. She claims to love animals more than anything in the world, she helps them so much, her heart is there for animals all the time BUT she eats a lot of meat, dairy and egg products. She's offended that my parents let our cats just run around in the woods. She's offended because they could get eaten by some wild animal or seriously injured. This is where our hearts are in totally different places. I could never keep my cats inside. One of them prefers to be inside most of the time but the other just ITCHES to be outside all the time. We tried to keep her indoors when she was like 1, but she just wanted soooo much to be outside and I couldn't hold her inside... Who are we to take away an animals free will for food or for our own selfish priorities? Cuz when you think about it - keeping your animals locked inside to prevent them from dying is pretty selfish. That's like not allowing your kid to get his/her drivers license cuz they could get hit by a car. Shit happens and I really hope that I never find any of my cats mutilated BUT shit happens, life happens, things die, no matter what you do to prevent their death.

I can't describe the joy my cat expresses when it becomes warm enough for her to spend her days outside... She loves to be outside at night too - which does make me nervous and I always try to keep her inside but she usually gets the best of me.
I just don't know how people can be so against listening to their animals, giving them free will. The one thing we value most ourselves, is our freedom. Wouldn't loving animals imply that you wish to give them that basic right?
I'll never understand how people can sit there and say they love animals but in the same breath - swallow a chunk of flesh that came from an animal. It's like do you love their taste or their companionship? I just don't think the two together make much sense and it IS a huge contradiction. I've come to this point where even if my health was failing me and death was close, I would not put a peice of animal anything in my mouth ever again. I'm really confident that humans can live without animal foods (we are omnivores afterall and most primates basically live off of a raw vegan diet - with the addition of insects and so little meat that it could hardly be considered the reason for their good health). If I woke up tomorrow and went to the doctors and they were like, you have to eat meat or you will die - I would flip them off and walk out the door. Actually - I have had this happen, I just knew it was a load of BS, especially because there wasn't a thing wrong with me (I was just at the doctors for a physical). I didn't flip her off - I actually wouldn't do that (except for maybe in my head) I just didn't listen to her and here I am, 8 years later and I still haven't had any kind of animal product. And for 11 years, I haven't eaten any meat.
It's funny to me too - how many of these "animal lovers" will try and convince me that I NEED to have animal foods. They come to me with all of these bogus medical "facts" (coming mostly from stupid Mercola and Weston A Price Foundation studies - which is like me quoting medical advice from PETA) about why vegans can't live vegan. It's so irritating because I know of people who are in their 50s and have had no medical problems and have been vegan since they were 19. The proof is in the puddin and people can come to me with quotes or studies but I have real life experience - something they are clueless about because they only know ONE vegan. ONE vegan that hasn't had an major medical problems other than genetic pains in the ass... (and by that, I mean gallbladder malfunction). I even treated my gallbladder issues with food, rebalanced my diet and here I am four years later, free of any pain whatsoever.