It’s Time for Humans to Value Animals For More Than Their Meat

In the sheltered environment of college, sometimes we don’t realise that certain issues are still present in our society, especially in the world of animal trade.

As humans who believe that we are superior to other animals, we habitually endanger species by pushing them toward extinction.

Although there are no good reasons for killing a whole species off in the first place, we unfortunately do so just for their bodies.

If we do not start caring about animals, their ecosystem will fall apart, and ours will too. We are all connected when it comes to living on this earth.

There are a variety of reasons why animals are on the brink of extinction, all of which point back to humanity. Poaching for certain body parts, taking over habitats, or killing animals for their meat are among some of them.

As humans, we need to learn how to live with other species. The problem of climate change and pollution affects us, but we need to realise it affects the whole ecosystem.

Climate change and pollution that we have caused also negatively affect the animal world. It is certainly no excuse for driving animals to their extinction.

To this day, elephants are poached for their tusks. Ivory is illegal in the US, but legal in the rest of the world.

It was estimated that within the last year, 20,000 elephants were killed. Killing animals for body parts is one of the most wrong and foolish ways to endanger a species.

Sea turtles are hunted for their shell, meat, skin, and eggs. They have also been subjected to our pollution, which causes habitat loss, sometimes on a large scale. Out of the eight kinds of sea turtles, seven are endangered.

Another threatened animal is the pangolin, the world’s most widely trafficked mammal. Because it is killed for its highly demanded scales and meat, all eight species of pangolin are on the brink of extinction.

We need to change the way we perceive animals and their physique. In other words, just because a species is different than humans, they should not be available for our use.

Yes, turtles have beautiful shells, but the shells are more beautiful on the animal. 

Many people can learn from this mentality, if they do not already live with it.

As Ellen DeGeneres once said, “I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it’s such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her.”