When I say I love animals and want to use my time to fight for them, this statement covers more than just Fido. Yes, our domestic pets have an amazing hold on our emotions (I'm not saying they shouldn't). They spend far more time with us than the 56 billion animals slaughtered every year (solely in terms of animal agriculture, not even accounting for other unnatural and unnecessary killings).

To love the select few — the chosen animals which we raise domestically — and abandon those which we don't is ethically inexcusable. It's not as if just because you don't see suffering before your very eyes and the food you buy is presented to you in a pretty package it does not occur. To live your life with integrity and love demands you stay informed on what happens on stage and behind the curtain — not just what's handed to you.

All animals experience both love and pain in the very same way that you and I do, the same way that cats and dogs do. The function of the nervous system is no different just because an animal doesn't have fur or doesn't look exactly the same as your house pets.

So please, if you think you think you're the world's biggest humanitarian by adopting another kitten, please consider expanding upon your previous actions so that they be inclusive of all sentient beings.