No, There’s Nothing Humane About Killing Animals

10:00 AM
Luna the cat sits peacefully next to me. I lean in to give her a kiss on the forehead and she responds by turning her head away. As I let out a sigh, mildly hurt by her rejection, I don’t think about slitting her throat to kill her.

10:30 AM
Luna reminds me that it’s time for food. As I carefully make my way to the kitchen to get her bowl, trying not to trip on Luna walking eagerly, placing herself right in between my legs, I don’t think about killing her.

11:00 AM
I walk over to the aquarium to feed the fishes. Luna follows me and jumps on to the aquarium stand in an attempt to get at the fishes. She pokes her head into the tank when I lift the lid. I still don’t feel the urge to kill her. Strangely, I don’t feel the urge to grab the fishes and drag them out of water to suffocate them either.

Luna sitting on the fish tank. None of the animals in this picture were killed.

1:00 PM
I sit on the couch, eating a sandwich and watching a movie on Netflix. I hear a continuous bark that forces me to turn on the subtitles. It’s annoying. I know that the bark belongs to a dog neighbor, Marcus. I did not feel compelled to go to his guardian’s apartment and throw him out the window.

6:00 PM
I am trying to get some work done at my desk. Luna thinks it’s cute to sit on my laptop. It IS kind of cute. But I need to get work done. I move her off the keyboard without choking her to death.

Luna and Elvin, both still alive.

2:00 AM
I am awakened by Luna sitting on my chest and meowing loudly in my face. Beside me is the thick book I was reading. I don’t use it to smash Luna’s head in. Instead, I groan loudly and ask her to leave me alone. She doesn’t. I turn the lights on, open the drawer beside the bed and get a pair of earplugs out. I stuff them in my ears, not down Luna’s throat, and try to get back to sleep.

Looks like I went an entire typical Sunday without killing anyone. Strange as it may seem to a “humane farmer,” I showed respect and love for nonhuman animals without slaughtering them.

I did not kill them, not because they’re human, but because they wanted to live. Their interest in living trumped any minor interest I had in killing them. I could have eaten their flesh and justified their deaths by doing so, but I don’t think they care why I harm them. They just don’t want to be harmed.

Luna is family and I treat her like she is family. I provide her shelter, protect her from predators, and give her medical care when needed. This might again seem strange to those running a “humane farm,” but I don’t have to kill her to do any of those things. I don’t have to sexually violate her and send her babies to slaughter either. I don’t have to sell her when she’s no longer useful to me. I can love her without exploiting her for my selfish needs.

There is absolutely nothing humane about killing someone who does not want to die. There is no humane way to enslave someone who wants to be free. “Humane farms” are made-up entities whose only purpose is to make customers feel self-righteous while continuing to exploit nonhuman animals. Labels mean nothing as long as we treat other animals like commodities.

Josephine, of Woodrose Acres Farm Sanctuary, who does not want to die.

Local farms exploit and murder animals locally. Organic farms feed them organic food before murdering them. Family farms kill families. What in the world is so ethical about killing someone that we feel putting a label on their death somehow makes it okay? How do we justify pretending to have compassion for animals while treating them like their lives don’t matter?

Don’t fall for silly marketing campaigns. Go vegan already.