On the verge of vegetarianism

I am Goan. Being vegetarian is extremely difficult, if not impossible. There are many homes and restaurants that will proudly serve you any meat you could possibly desire, except for well maybe dog meat, Goans like dogs too much. Wild Boar, Venison, Veal, Cat, Rabbit, Frog, well you get the picture don’t you. I grew up pointing at cows and calling them beef.

That was a bit of background information to give you some context for the shocking announcement that is about to come.

I, Desiree Alemao, feel a strong urge to stop eating meat.

Yes, you read right.

What happened to bring this on you ask? Well ever since I moved to Bangalore I have seen poultry shops that dot the road to college treat livestock very badly. Dozens of hens’ feet tied to the seat of a bicycle to be transported. While they are still alive, mind you so that they can feel every bump on the road, at which point they hit each other.

Just because they were raised to be someone’s meal does not mean they were born with no feeling in their body. While they are alive they can feel, we seem to conveniently forget this fact. This too is cruelty. Cruelty to livestock is also cruelty to animals.

I am a pacifist, hence seeing things like this makes me sick. I cannot think of eating something that has been treated so badly. In all this, where is the government to enforce its regulations on livestock farmers.

Where are the NGOs that care so much? Are the hens not as important because they can’t look up at you lovingly like puppies do or rub against your ankles like a kitten? Is it because they won’t look good on your brochures and calendars?

This is my way of standing up against this treatment and saying that I will not eat meat that is not ethically treated. If the demand does not go down then there will be no change in the way the livestock farmers treat the animals.  

Hopefully if enough of people who are concerned about these issues we will have concepts like free range poultry becoming popular in India as well.

It has been a difficult journey for me, not eating meat is not very easy but I think the cause is worth it. Are you willing to take a stand as well?

(This was a while ago. I couldn't give up meat but I try and make sure the meat I eat has been treated ethically. That is quite a task as well.)