Many people boast of being animal lovers. In my observation, most of them start with dogs and cats, and work their way up from there, conflating their love with dogs or cats with “animals in general.”
A man whom I know personally lives by the old saying, “dogs are man’s best friend,” and he often quotes “the more I see people, the more I love dogs.” He should avoid looking in the mirror perhaps?
In this article, I will attempt to prove that claiming to be an animal lover is a bit of a self-inflicted delusion or mental heath issue perhaps brought on by some childhood or past life trauma or perhaps some deep sense of subconscious guilt in which one erroneously sees redemption in “being kind to animals.”
Before I go any further, I’d like to clear up a few things. I love animals myself. I myself am an animal lover, but not in the extreme sense. I am an animal lover in the sense of which most people are. I don’t seek to put myself on a pedestal or call myself an animal rights activist where this is concerned. There are many ironies and dangers associated with such. To give you an example, the other day I was sipping a beer and eating a few roasts near to my hotel where I was spending a night in Bonfim, Brazil. A beautiful, black, stray dog passed by. I played with it and gave it half my food which it ate happily. I wished I had the means to give it a bath, but I didn’t. But I asked the people there to please do so because it is a nice, friendly dog. This is the love I have in my heart for all animals, and which I believe most people do. I also do not like fishing, because I hate the idea of pulling a beautiful fish, swimming peacefully and happily in its natural habitat, out of the water, suffocating it to death, or otherwise killing it painfully, and then eating it. I would do it if I have no choice, but avoid it if possible, because, what kind of a human being would I be if I did that?
Despite everything I’ve said in the above paragraph, calling myself animal lover would itself and reek of hypocrisy. To begin with, most animal rights activists eat fish and meat. They would selfishly sit down and gobble up fish and meat and tell themselves they have done no wrong. After that, they would go about acting like they “love animals.” In caring for your dog, don’t you have to “murder” the ticks and fleas that infest it? Are these not animals too? Don’t they have a right to life? Don’t you feed your dogs and cats the flesh of other animals such as chicken, beef, and fish? Don’t the lives and feelings of these animals also count?
I could go on and on, but let me make it simple. Let’s be kind to animals as much as humanly possible without attempting to put ourselves on the pedestal of being called “animal rights activists” or “animal lovers.” Do not inflict unnecessary harm or suffering on animals. Care for them as much as humanly possible without compromising your duty to struggling humanity, yourself, God, or your family.
