Why I Fight For Animal Rights We all do certain things, sometimes to the amazement of others, for our own personal reasons. I am vegetarian and do not believe in harming animals for humanitarian reasons. I believe in the right of all living creatures to live lives of dignity. Growing up, I never liked to see animals hurt. I went to a circus once, and I saw this magnificent elephant in chains. The elephant also had all these discolored marks on it's body. After the show, I watched the circus employee leading the elephant away with a sharp gaff. The sight of this huge and noble creature in chains, with scars from years of being gaffed, clubbed, and who knows what, with it's sad eyes and beaten down spirit, no, this couldn't be right. Since that time I have seen dogs kicked, have been to a factory chicken ranch, watched videos of slaughter houses and animals being "processed" for their fur. I saw how cows are killed for their meat, how even our beloved dogs are skinned for their fur. I've seen what goes on at puppy mills, what happens to race dogs and race horses when they are no longer needed. Instances of animals caged up and left to starve are far too many. Perhaps the cruelest of all is the way "veal" is created. Do you know? Then we have animal research, which usually is such a useless cruelty. We have the Draize Eye test, and of course all of the testing carried out by consumer product manufacturers like Proctor & Gamble. Beagles, by the way, are always a favorite of animal testing. On the black market tens of thousands of dogs and cats are purchased for testing. Many beloved pets have been stolen and sold for this purpose. Whenever I think of animals being harmed, of animals suffering, being tortured, of being foced to live lives of misery and mistreatment, I think of my dog Guinevere. I can't fathom her going through any of those things and I don't believe any other animal should either. That's what I believe.
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