Most who know me know of my feelings towards animals. They know I value them as much as I value any life. I see them as equal to humans. I believe all that is given life should be allowed to live it.

 I believe animals understand death....this article is an interesting one relating to that....https://www.seeker.com/do-animals-understand-death-1906699202.html , they feel pain, experience fear, simply put, they have emotions and express them. Yet some of the people I've met and had conversations with on this subject, and whom were in science based professions have disagreed with my thoughts. They've disagreed primarily because they've felt that because animals "aren't the same as us" they don't deserve the same treatment, the same right to life we deserve, nor do they have the same value. Certainly we can disagree on what life holds more value, as that is an opinion,  but no one should deny that animals deserve to be treated humanely. No one can deny that they feel pain, experience fear, that they can sense things and share many of the same emotions we share, since that is science and well documented.  Even so, some still think that because an animal can't feel or express themselves as humans do, that than means, they're  not our equals. But why does something have to be like us to hold the same value? And if being the "same as" was the important factor in being equal,  than one could srgue that as humans, from one to another, we don't hold the same value, nor are we equal. Because none of us are the same...... Which would mean, that some of us are more worthy of life. Think about that......do you deserve to live more than I? Are you more "valuable " than I? Because we are different, we think differently, experience pain differently, we emote differently........we are not the same.....we are just of the same species.....and no I don't think that humans are the smarter of species, either.Since some will use that as a justification for being more valuable. And to that again, I'd say, some humans are smarter, more intelligent than others, so...... I'd also say if humans are so much smarter than other animals, why do we do so many stupid things? Why can't we do all that other animals can do? #bekind