There are about 80% Hindus in India and less than 20% Muslims. Hindus consider the cows sacred, and for many, it’s taboo to eat beef so many states in India has banned or restricted the killing of cows and to sell beef. There are vigilante groups among the Hindus because they are enraged over the treatment of cows. So, at the beginning of April, they attacked a Muslim man who had been transporting cows to slaughter. The police confirmed later that the Muslim man died of the fatal injuries. A police officer, who wanted to remain anonymous because he wasn’t allowed to speak to the media, said that they didn’t arrest anyone.

What do you think about that?

Personally, I must admit that I didn’t cry when I heard it, having that said doesn’t mean that I think that it’s okay to kill anyone. But I do understand how the vigilantes feel…that you feel powerless when other people kill cows and other animals because it’s a horrible death that awaits the poor animals. There are no words that can explain what I feel when I think of how all these fantastic creatures are being treated by people just so they can eat their eggs, drink their milk and eat the meat. I was born on a farm, meaning I have seen some of my friends being slaughtered and some of them being sent away with a slaughter truck, which was traumatic experiences to me. And when I trained to become an animal keeper as a teenager I saw many different animals at the zoo being slaughtered because they were only kept alive during the summer to show the tourists. When the fall came, they killed chickens, a bear cub, pigs, badgers, wolves and maybe there was someone more that I can’t remember now. They also killed magpies and crows now and then because they didn’t like that they flew around in the zoo area.

A cow got shot in the eye instead of the forehead and got skinned alive

And once I read a book about cruel things that are being done to animals in the slaughterhouses. There was a story about how a man shot a cow in the eye instead of the forehead and that she got skinned alive. It made me think of all the cows, bulls, and calves that I have known and loved when I heard about all the horrible things that happen in the slaughterhouse and then the tears rolled down my cheeks although I already knew that it is hell on earth for animals. So, no, I didn’t cry when I heard the news I mentioned above.