Do you protect the dog and eat the chicken? How do you decide who deserves your compassion?

Let's talk about speciesism.

Speciesism is a silent form of discrimination: it judges and marginalizes beings for not belonging to a certain species. It's like racism, but between species. Why do we love dogs and are merciless to the pig on our plate? Why do we protect cats and despise the cow?

It's not biology. It's not justice. It's custom.

Between caresses and knives

All animals—regardless of their size or the shape of their snout—have a nervous system; they feel pleasure, pain, fear, and joy. They protect their young with a devotion that is heartwarming. Or didn't you cry with Dumbo or Bambi? If you doubt it, try taking a baby elephant from a mother elephant and you'll see how she defends what she loves.

And yet, the law is selective. It severely punishes those who mistreat a dog, but allows without a blink the daily confinement, mutilation, and murder of cows, chickens, and fish. An animal's place in the chain of affection or the food chain seems to depend more on human whim than on its capacity for feeling.

What if the pig was your friend?

I met a man who walked his pig on a leash like someone walking their dog. He adopted it from a sanctuary and proudly recounted how the pig had learned to add. We laughed, yes, but it also made us think: if a pig can be a companion, why do we still see it as food?

A question for the soul

Do you believe your pet has a soul? So... doesn't the chicken? Doesn't the dolphin either? Spirituality shouldn't have favorites. Or do you think that because you're not the one wielding the knife, you have nothing to do with the animal's sacrifice? But the saying goes: "He who kills a cow sins as much as he who steps on its foot." There's a movie I encourage you to watch: Christspiracy. It asks a question that stuck with me: How would Jesus kill an animal? No one could answer.

Being a veterinarian and eating animals also sounds contradictory, doesn't it?

A screaming planet

Beyond animal pain, the meat industry devastates forests, seas, lands, and human bodies. It pollutes, sickens, impoverishes. It generates pandemics. It fuels a machine that sacrifices lives and the planet at the same time, all to keep prices low and the fridge full.

So, what can we do?

I'm not asking you to go vegan tomorrow. I'm inviting you to look. To feel. To question yourself. To watch documentaries like Dominion or Cowspiracy. To listen to the silenced cries of millions who cannot defend themselves.

The solution isn't just in governments. It's on our plates. It's in what we choose to ignore... or transform.