Animals are a big part of our culture in today’s society. From household pets to food, animals have become increasingly important to comfort and feed millions of people.

I would consider myself an animal lover. Naturally, I’m fonder of domesticated animals like dogs, cats, and the occasional rodent. But I still consider all animal life to be important.

However, I am not a vegetarian. I have considered becoming one a multitude of times and may actually go through with it once I graduate from high school, but as of now I am not able to.

I am also taking the class Human Biology. We have many labs in which we have to dissect different parts of animals. It doesn’t really bother me to do that.

But, now we are getting closer to dissecting fetal pigs, which is part of our final. The class passed around a fetal pig still in packaging to one another. I could feel my eyes watering up. Not because I was disgusted, or because I knew I’d have to dissect this pig eventually if I wanted to pass the class, but because I could still see this pig’s face. The class so far has only dissected organs, not creatures with faces.

I did know that this would be a part of the class when I enrolled, but I didn’t expect it to have such a sudden, profound effect on me. Granted, I will be able to get over this eventually.

Unfortunately, someone in the class saw my watery eyes and mocked me. I was also asked the question: “Are you a vegetarian?” To which I replied no. Following that I received comments like: “Then why do you care?” or “This shouldn’t bother you then.”

Just because I am not a vegetarian doesn’t mean I cannot have empathy for animals. I love all animals, and seeing one dead in a sack just kind of struck me. I never knew I had to be a vegetarian to care deeply for animals.

My point is, you don’t have to not eat meat to be considered an animal lover. I plan to have many animals in my home once I’m out of college. I might even own a pig. You shouldn’t ridicule someone for feeling sadness towards an animal, no matter the circumstance.

17aweber@usd489.com