Baby Bunnies and Vegetarians

My dog, Patty, ate four baby bunnies last week. The last two were so young they didn't even have hair, and she swallowed them whole. It was disgusting. My initial reaction was, "The poor mama bunny!" and "Patty is a killer." But, when you think about it, my dog was only fulfilling her innate need for nourishment. Food, for animals (like Patty), isn't about taste or presentation or cultural merit -- it's about a biological instinct to refuel themselves.

So maybe Patty isn't a psycho, maybe she's actually normal. In fact, maybe Patty is more normal than me -- than humans. People eat food from animals (like baby bunnies, for example) all the time, but we find it repulsive when dogs massacre bunny families before our eyes? Now, that's just a bit hypocritical, don't you think? I mean, the human race systematically slaughters millions of cattle herds every year for consumption, but we can't watch our dogs eat newborn bunnies? There is obvious validity to the "out of sight, out of mind" argument. But, for me, it only takes one thought about what I'm truly shoving into my mouth while I'm enjoying a nice piece of steak for my appetite to suddenly disappear.

I used to not understand why people would want to become vegetarians. Meat is so tasty! There's nothing like a greasy cheeseburger on a hot summer night, there really isn't... But what if I had to actually go out to the field and sink my teeth into the living cow (like Patty and the baby bunnies) to get the same nourishment? Would I love that cheeseburger the same? Would there even be cheese?

Peace out, and rock on.