Animal Connections

I passed a slaughter house truck on the freeway as I made the trek to work today. It never fails, every time I see one, my heart sinks in my chest. Sadly, they are usually empty as they pass, having already delivered their 'product' to their imminent demise. The hollow shell of death drives back and forth between living and dying with no possibility of diversion, only certain destruction. Today however as I approached, a broad black nose was shoved as far out of a small oval hole as it could possible protrude. A long goofy pink tongue lapped at the air, tasting the flavors of a freedom that it would never know. I physically reached out as I drove past, trying to forge some kind of connection. Their big brown eyes met mine for an instant before our paths took different directions.

My mind couldn't help but compare this image to those seen multiple times throughout my education, horrible photos of people being herded (I use that word very intentionally) onto somewhat similar looking caravans, crammed multiple bodies high and thick, hanging limbs out of windows reaching for an escape from a dismal future looming so closely, stoic faces peering through holes in sides of trains or trucks.

As I drove, the lyrics blasting from my stereo sang "when we die, we will die with our arms unbound". These caged creatures, deemed food rather than what they actually are- living, feeling, conscious, inhabitants of the same world as the rest of us- were heading toward their death at 65+ MPH. They would not die in the way that I and so many of us wish to- free, untethered, unbound, uninhibited. They would die in the exact opposite fashion- both literally and figuratively. They would be hung from their feet, throats cut, blood drained slowly perhaps painfully in a cold harsh room. The last sensory experiences they were to have would not be views of green pastures, the sun beating down on their backs, bees buzzing near their ears. Linking back to Holocaust images- what were some of those people's last experiences of this world?

I don't intend to equate animal slaughter for food production to the abominable genocidal actions that took place in World War 2, I understand the disconnects, but as I saw this truck today, with a lone cow nose poking through the grate, these were the images that came to mind and the overlaps in human and animal experience and suffering seem to me undeniable.

It is so striking that people and animals really are not that different in our behaviors, our baser desires, our instincts, our emotions.