Why I went vegan

Now we come to the question, why? Well, for me, all it took was to watch the video "meet your meat" and I never wanted to touch a hot dog again. But let's back up a bit first. All my life, I've been a lover of animals. I've never been able to have a pet because of allergies, which was devastating to me as a child, but I managed to make some animal friends nonetheless through my friends and neighbors. I adored all things furry and cute, be they puppies or the mice that frequented our home(needless to say, my mother was never quite as thrilled as I was to be the host to these little hungry guests). I never thought much about the animals that I ate, nor the products that come from them, and when I did I quickly pushed aside any nagging doubts I had by saying to myself that it was a necessary evil. And anyway, I'm sure they live quite well and have happy lives before they become our dinner. And so it was for the first 18 years of my life. Then, about a year ago, I was in the car with my dad and through his usual radio flipping we came across a spokesperson for PETA on NPR talking about slaughterhouses. Knowing that I had considered vegetarianism (briefly) once before, my dad hurriedly tried to skip over her to some oldies, but I insisted we listen. She was describing the conditions of the average slaughterhouse, and saying how it was unacceptable for these animals to be treated this way. She also mentioned how strange it was that people care so much about the well-being of their companion animals, but are so easy to ignore the suffering of those that end up on their plates. Wow, did that get me thinking! I wondered, what was the difference between those sweet brown eyes of my friend's dog, and those of a cow's, or pig's? All of them feel pain, have wants and needs, and resist death. As soon as I got home, I went on PETA's website and watched their "meet your meat" documentary about the lives of livestock animals used for meat, dairy, and egg farming. Instead of describing it, my best advice is to watch it for yourself. I realized that there was absolutely no rationale sufficient enough to justify the killing and abuse of these animals. Here is the simple truth: we do not need to eat animals to survive. We do so purely for reasons of taste. If that is the case, how are we any different from those who torture animals for amusement? If the best justification we have for the slaughter of animals is for our own pleasure, I don't think we really are. As for dairy cattle and egg-producing chickens, I discovered that as soon as their profitability expires (their cost of living exceeds their production value), they are sent to slaughter. In fact, most fast food meat originates from spent dairy cows. They are, in essence, economic comodities; disposable, expendable pieces of property. From a legal standpoint, their value is purely monetary. For my part, I believed that this was wrong. Now, this is just my reason for going vegan, and I'm sure every vegan has their own story to tell (unfortunately, since I do not know personally any other vegans, I can't give you any other accounts). But essentially, I think it's safe to say for all vegans that it boils down to this: Killing, harming, and using sentient beings is morally wrong, and supporting industries that utilize these practices by buying their products is simply unacceptable. Thus, we choose to adopt a lifestyle that eliminates as much animal exploitation as we can the only way we can- we go vegan.