Instinctively and innately we are a world of animal lovers. In the United States alone, there are well over one hundred million dogs and cats. It is difficult to come to the realization that owning “pets” out of a love of animals is backwards logic. A good example of backwards logic is banging your head against a wall because it feels good when you stop.

People point to their dog or cat as a token of their loving spirit toward animals, then they go to the refrigerator and pull out some variety of animal flesh to prepare the evening meal. On the road to paradise, this is road block # 2,000,000.

Additionally, we murder millions of other animals to feed our dogs and cats. Why are chickens, pigs and cows less worthy of love than dogs and cats? Love of animals, you say? Road block # 2,000,001, I say.

Some of the worst perpetrators of animal brutality are actually the dog and cat breeders. They love to talk about how much they love animals; that’s why they’re breeders. Does the breeder’s love extend to any of the millions of homeless animals (since there are already too many dogs and cats) that wander the streets until they’re caught and euthanized in animal shelters? At any given moment there are hundreds of thousands of homeless dogs and cats locked up in tiny steel cages awaiting execution. These are our “best friends.” What do we do? Breed more. Roadblock # 2,000,002.

Why do we feel we need to own an animal to show the world (and ourselves) that we are animal lovers? All animals are, or should be, entitled to love and to individual sovereignty. Murdering millions upon millions of cows and pigs, etc., to feed dogs and cats is not love of animals of any meaningful kind. This is more backwards logic. We first breed them to satisfy our own selfish whims and then insist it is natural that these artificially created “pets” eat other animals.

When we stop eating animals we develop a very special kinship with all living creatures and may not have the need to have a pet to express or experience our love. Love will be omnipresent. Love will exist every and any time we are in the presence of another. One species’ fear of another will be replaced by respect, appreciation and kinship. Breeding animals to create tokens of “love of animals” will be rightly seen as brutal, selfish folly.

I’m not in any way suggesting you give up the animals you live with now. They are certainly entitled to life and love. However, if we are motivated out of love, we must curtail the breeding of animals, especially omnivorous/carnivorous animals. We will all be better for it.