Why I am an Animal Lover

                How I became an animal lover, I do not know. What I do know, is that I can see the hurt in their eyes. I can feel the pain deep in my soul, why I feel that way I cannot explain.  Maybe it is what humanity is lacking in the world today. I know I did not always feel this way.  Somehow this inhumane world has created inside me, deep in my soul an empathy that is stronger than it had ever been before. This new empathy makes me stronger and wiser, it shows me the how cruel and evil this world can be. It shows me things that I hate to see and breaks me inside.

                I feel with my eyes the hurt, abuse and cruelty. I know hurt, abuse and cruelty for I have lived it too. I can speak out with my voice and fight back for myself without being charged with a crime. I have in my past had to fight for the right not to be abused. Animals cannot ask for help and they cannot fight back. If they decide to fight back they are deemed viscous and pay with their lives. Their only options are to take the abuse, try and run, or fight back (possibly knowing that they will die).

                I do not fear speaking out, I feel it is our duty to try and help those in need. Any person that has a heart and any compassion at all would not turn a blind eye to the abuse. There is no excuse that can make is right or okay for not helping a person or animal who cannot speak for themselves. I will not be quiet and I will speak out against cruelty. Ignoring it will not make it go away, ignoring it only makes you just as guilty and you should also pay.

                When an animal looks at you all burnt and bloody with need in their eyes, how dare you say I don’t want to see these types of things, which makes it sound like I enjoy looking at such things? An emaciated dog sit next door and if you do nothing, not even a call to the police, you are just as guilty as the person who left the dog there to die. When their eyes ask for mercy and help, who are you to ignore that request? Who are you to deny God’s creature’s food, shelter or help? Who are you? 

                I am God’s child with love and compassion in my heart, I am an animal lover and only God know why or how. I can look in the mirror and love what I see. I can look in the mirror and know that I made a difference in some animal’s life. No matter how small that difference might be, for that one moment, that one animal felt kindness, compassion, and love from those who were put here to protect it. For that moment that abandoned, abused and lost pet or stray knew unconditional love.

                Kindness costs us nothing. If we have it to spare, it might cost us a bag of food. Kindness might cost us a moment in time to make a call that might save a life. Young or old each life is important. Only God knows why, this evil is allowed to survive. Ignorance is no excuse for allowing evil crimes against another life to continue to happen. Trying not to see it or hear it will not excuse you or your responsibility for allowing it to happen.

                I will look in the mirror and be proud of the things that I did ad continue to do. I will look and see people like you, who ignore reality, and I will pray that you learn to see and feel compassion for life. I would also be ashamed of you and others like you, for you should never be allowed to feel the love of another human or animal. The other side of that statement is that you need to feel and see that unconditional love to learn to give it to another life. 

                When I look in the mirror, what I see are a cat and three dogs looking back at me. They smile and wag their tails, as if they were saying I am happy. Their eyes say thank you. Their eyes tell me that they are grateful, grateful that I took the time to save them. They are grateful that I love them. For all of what I have given them, they gave and give me much more. I know what they give me makes me love them even more. For what we give each other is why I am an animal lover.