If you care about animals, think about your food choices

Countless members of our community have expressed outrage and sorrow over the euthanization of Arroyo Grande’s gray fox. The loss of this little being has touched a place in our hearts that calls for us to be thoughtful about respecting the lives of others. Our fox’s lesson to us could be to remind us that we can easily choose to extend these feelings to other sentient beings.

We have unlimited opportunities every day to respect and protect animals’ right to live with our actions, our voices and our food choices. In our country alone, over 9 billion animals are bred each year to live short, tortured and unnatural lives, only to satisfy our taste buds. Why is that OK? Why do we love our dogs, cats and little gray foxes but not extend these feelings to the cows, pigs and chickens that we exploit? We can choose to live a healthier life and protect our environment and other beings with our food choices.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 1:54 PM with the headline "If you care about animals, think about your food choices."