Why Change for Better Living?

This is probably a good question to start. It all began one day when I found a little vegan booklet on the ground. I picked up the booklet and turned page after page. I read and saw so many things I didnt like. I felt really confused. I always thought I loved animals and respected their lives until I saw those pictures in that little book. I saw blood, knives, suffering, and pain. I spent all day thinking about it and there was nothing that could make me feel better. I didnt want to eat, sleep,..I couldnt even do any homework. I was in shock. The next day when I woke up, I realized I could start doing something to change what I had seen on that book, and that is when I decided to change my eating habits. I thought that if I considered myself as someone who cared about animals, my eating habits would have to change.It was the time when I used to work at the Zoo of San Diego. We taught children about the amazing things of wildlife in order to create awareness for animal species conservation. We were teaching the children to grow love for nature and animals, but why wild animals only? what about cows, pigs and chicken? Dont they also deserve a better life? dont they feel, eat, sleep, play? I made a connection. Very logical to me. Not very logical to others.
I grew up in Mexico, in a neighborhood with streets dogs and cats. We always adopted any animal in need. (well, kind of)..my parents wouldn't always let us, but we pretty much grew up surrounded by some sort of pet..(cats, dogs, turtles, rabbits, ..) I never made any connection between my dinner plate and the actual animal that got killed and was served at our dinner table. I n
ever learned the atrocities behind a real farm until I started college.
Now the years have passed and I think to myself everyday, what have we turned into? so much blood, so much suffering so we can get served death meat at our table? without any effort because the food industry will take care of it. I thought to myself..this is not right.
There are many studies that show that consuming animal product(eggs, dairy, meat, fish, poultry) lead to certain types of cancer, hypertension, heart disease and more. So why not consider a diet that will be healthy and cruelty-free? Why not leave in a word of respect between human and non-human beings and be able to share of what nature provided us since the begging of the years? Why teach our children that eating meat is right when there is so much pain and suffering in the process?

....I am now sitting outside, in my house's porch with my dog, and to me it is so fulfilling, so perfect. The perfect night, quite, dark, and my dog. A dog who suffered in the street since she was born, used to eat whatever she would find on the ground, and now, I get to have her sitting right next to me. I get to name her Moffin and I get to share my life, this moment with her because she is not my pet, she is a special member in my family....and maybe, adopting a similar attitude towards them, we could build up what we have forgotten throughout the years, compassion, care, and love to them and our mother
nature....