My sister, who rarely eats meat, with the exception of fish, asked me why I am against eating fish. She believes fish do not have feelings because their brains cannot sense pain. And with the high amount of nutrients they provide and with the overabundance of fish like salmon, it is ok to eat them.

Naturally, this argument intrigued me, though I am highly skeptical of the notion that fish can’t feel pain. My immediate response was,”Well, even if the idea of eating animals didn’t totally gross me out, I don’t like the taste or smell of fish and I am a firm believer in getting nutrition lower on the food chain. We don’t need meat to survive so I see no reason to kill them for sustenance, even if there is the possibility that they can’t feel pain. It’s still cruel.” I choose not to shorten an animal’s life, regardless of their pain receptors. I think that fish would much rather be swimming freely out in nature somewhere, versus being stabbed with a hook, suffocated, mutilated, and set on my dinner table, if given the choice. And from what I’ve read, the jury’s still out on the “fish feel pain” debate. Ultimately, what they’ve narrowed it down to is that fish don’t feel pain in the same way that people do. But it’s very hard to determine exactly what that means or how they do feel.

I understand there are some people who have given up all meat except for fish. It’s valid… if it’s for health reasons only. But if you care about the pain and suffering of animals (and understand that your pet dog Toby and that cow about to be slaughtered are both sensitive living breathing creatures) and yet you still consume fish… or dairy or eggs, I’m sorry to break this to you but you’re being a bit of a hypocrite. Just like dairy cows are slaughtered when no more milk can be sucked out of them, and chickens are debeaked, tortured and ultimately slaughtered once they can’t lay eggs anymore, fish are also living, breathing creatures that are bred and killed and used as products.

We’d all love to go on living our ignorant lives, assuming that the dairy cow lives a full life in green pastures and the chickens reside at a quaint family farm, happily wandering acres of land. But the reality is that only a tiny percentage of these animals live long, happy lives. And it is a shame that vegans are still viewed as “odd” because we don’t eat the “standard” diet of mutilated flesh, embryos and mucousy milk. Just because meat has been standard food since the beginning of time does not mean it’s the right way to eat, nor does it mean it will always be this way. If we went off that assumption, we’d still be naked, mumbling savages with incredibly short lifespans. We’ve progressed so much with technology, science, medicine, and much more. It’s only a matter of time before a light bulb goes off in people’s heads about the horrors of the meat and dairy industries.

I am confident that eventually it will become standard for people to choose the vegan lifestyle and meat and dairy eaters will be the “odd” ones. Those of us who are vegan already are just ahead of the curve. We’ve made the connection between living breathing creatures and the meat department at the grocery store. We get that owning and loving a pet and wearing a fur coat are highly contradictory acts. And not only that, but we’ve decided to stand up for what we feel is right and have chosen not to participate in or support the meat industry. We’ve chosen not to hide behind the, “but I love steak and cheese” arguments. And for that, I thank you.

note: I do want to mention that, though I was saying some harsh things about dairy consumers, I do think that ultimately, the less animal products you use/consume the better and that vegetarians are already doing much better than meat eaters in that respect.