Pigging Clever

© iStockPhoto.com / THEPALMER

It isn’t surprising that scientists recently “discovered” that pigs have feelings. All the undercover footage PETA has accumulated over the years of animals on factory farms and in laboratories makes it clear that animals feel pain and suffer just as we do. Many of us knew it all along, but it’s still great to see this fact printed in the pages of a major daily newspaper.

When I was 16, I made the compassionate decision to stop eating meat. I was given a plate of gammon steak, and as I looked at the fatty flesh in front of me, I just thought, “This is a pig. He had a family and friends, and I feel guilty about eating him”.

Not only can pigs feel, they are also very clever. An adult pig is approximately as smart as a typical 3-year-old child. I wouldn’t eat a pig based on his or her level of intelligence any more than I would eat a child.

I am a vegan because I care. I know that animals feel pain, and I wouldn’t want to harm them any more than I would want to harm my own family and friends – or anyone else for that matter. Knowing how complex the emotions and nervous systems of animals are only strengthens my belief that animals are not ours to eat.