Really Big Wimp...

Some very conscientious and intelligent bloggers have been helping recently to spread the word about a news story that aired not too long ago regarding animal cruelty at a stockyard/slaughterhouse. I can't watch it. I just can't. I'm sorry, but I cannot watch it. I'm not a vegan. I grew up in a house full of deer hunters and I'm not opposed to responsible hunting (I never did watch the butchering though). As a matter of fact, to this very day if I visit my father's house during November (deer hunting season in our state) I can't look at the far right corner in his garage...I know that is where he hangs the deer...like a small child I hold up my hand to the right side of my face to shield my eyes and run through the garage while I say to myself "Look to the left, look to the left...".

But I cannot watch animal cruelty. I cannot watch animals, kids, women or disabled persons being abused. Really I guess it boils down to--I can't watch anyone being abused. It's a rule of mine...the few times I've seen videos that have even hinted at such things, I become a blubbering mess and it takes me DAYS and sometimes WEEKS to recover. I don't know if that makes me the biggest wimp in the whole world or not, and I guess in the end I don't care if it does. At least I'm not apathetic. Remember that clip in The Shawshank Redemption where Tim Robbins character gets jumped and they make it pretty apparent that he is raped a few times? Absolutely devastated me... It makes me uncomfortable to even type the words. It is a great movie, but whenever I watch it I have to fast forward through those parts. However, I digress...this was about animal cruelty at the stockyards/slaughterhouses and I've gotten off point...

Now please don't think that I'm one of those people that thinks it is best "not to speak of such things" or to "sweep it under the rug". I'm not. I'm the farthest thing from it. I think you should shout it from the rooftops and make people hear you. Abuse to any animal or any person is not acceptable--period. I would put up the fight of my life to save another from abuse...and that is the absolute truth. But I can't watch it. I won't watch it.

I'll just say this: If you eat meat, do you know where it comes from? Do you know how it gets there? Are you purchasing it from responsible stores, butchers, farmers? Do you know how it has been handled? With all of the meat re-calls lately, I'm hoping that these questions have crossed your mind. If not, why not take a minute now to think about it and research it? I won't be posting a link on this one (for fear I'll accidently click on it)...but if you use your favorite search engine it won't take you long to find out what's going on. We've got to stay informed. It is the only way...