CVA Blog
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

Animal Sentience
August 18, 2014

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

  1. Chickens Show Empathy
  2. Famous Quote: Dr. Will Tuttle
  3. Eating Dogs
  4. Bible Verse: 1 John 4:19
  5. Fish Are Sentient Beings
  6. This Week’s Video: What a Heroic Investigator Did For One Pig - Silver Telly Award Winner

1. Chickens Show Empathy

A carefully controlled experiment shows that hens show empathy toward their chicks. The study involved chicks being exposed to a puff of air. As a result, the hens’ heart rate increased and eye temperature decreased. They also changed their behavior by being more alert, preening less and vocalizing more.

Please visit Empathy in Chickens.

Empathy clearly is not a human-trait only. The Creator endowed His/Her creatures with emotions that range from joy and empathy to fear and anger. Acknowledging that other creatures also have an emotional life is a first step in order to live a compassionate life.


2. Famous Quote

“Our human spiritual evolution is a calling to liberate ourselves and the animals we hold in bondage. It’s founded upon recognizing the unity of cause and effect: whatever seeds we sow in our consciousness we will reap in our lives.”

The ancient teaching holds true: “Hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love. This is the everlasting law.” In the end, as Mahatma Gandhi emphasized, we must be the change we want to see in the world.

~ Dr. Will Tuttle


3. Eating Dogs

John Sutter, CNN columnist, writes an excellent piece about the illegal and barbaric dog-meat trade market in Asia. The pictured depicted in this article makes most readers repulsed and saddened by the treatment of humans’ best friend.

Sutter understands that eating dogs is not different than eating cows or pigs and says, “If we think dog shouldn't be eaten -- like, ever, regardless of how clean the trade is and how quick the kill -- then maybe we should think about the other animals we eat, and if and why we don't feel the same way about them. Is it because we spend so much time with dogs -- looking into their eyes, talking to them, walking them, picking up their crap -- that we understand that they are living, breathing, feeling beings? Would we feel that way about other animals if we could hang out more? Or would the beak-y, frowny face of the chicken still stop us short of empathy?”

Please visit The argument for eating dog.

Indeed, there’s no difference between eating dogs or eating other animals, but most people seem to have different ethical standards as far as who is OK to eat. This cognitive dissonance allows them to support much cruelty, disease and devastation, which most likely goes against their own ethical, moral and spiritual values.


4. Bible Verse
(RSV) 1 John 4:19

“We love, because he first loved us.”

We are made in the image of God's love; therefore, we are called to reflect God's love onto all Creation


5. Fish Are Sentient Beings

Fish are exploited and killed by the billions around the world, without any mercy or barely any thought. However, mounting scientific evidence shows that fish are, of course, sentient beings whose lives must be considered.

For example, the oceanographer Sylvia Earle says, “I wouldn’t deliberately eat a grouper any more than I’d eat a cocker spaniel.” Fish, she explains, “are sensitive, they have personalities; they hurt when they’re wounded.” The German neuroscientist Stefan Shuster agrees, saying that, “people don’t expect much from fish but that’s where they’re wrong.”

“Fish,” he claims, “are capable of much more than people think.” The renowned fish biologist Victoria Braithwaite told a reporter, “We’re concerned about the welfare of chickens, pigs, and cows on farms. Why not fish?”

Please visit Why fish can no longer escape our conscience.


6. This Week’s Video: What a Heroic Investigator Did For One Pig - Silver Telly Award Winner

A mother pig, crippled, starving and near death at a factory farm is shown mercy maybe probably for the first and last time in her life: a few drops of water from an HSUS undercover investigator.

Please visit What a Heroic Investigator Did For One Pig - Silver Telly Award Winnerand share. The work of undercover investigators is priceless.


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