Respecting creatures

     I tape everything I like to watch on television and then watch it at leisure.  One of the shows I was taping regularly on a temporary free channel was a man who travels around the world and checks out the local restaurants.  He meets up with a local chef or someone else and they check out the localities and sample the foods.  I enjoy travelling to these places with him in my imagination.  I have always enjoyed travelling.
I enjoy watching all travel shows including Scam and Distant Shores (when it is free).      
   In a recent episode, within the USA of all places, he was indulging in an ethnic restaurant.  What bothered me was that a baby octopus or at least it looked liked it was placed in his plate still alive among other food already dead and cooked.  It was wiggling around apparently dying.  Then the chef comes and cuts off his legs.  The host makes a comment that his slow death or something like that was worth it (the taste).  This was so upsetting to me that I deleted all programs I had yet to watch and deleted any future shows.  I don't normally like to write about what I consider cruel because I realise that there are so many copy cats out there.  I don't want to be the cause of any suffering for anyone.
     I started to turn into a vegetarian when I saw a neighour kill a rabbit.  Initially, I thought it was one of my pets.  However, it was not.  I saw the rabbit struggling to live and then saw him resign himself to death.  I felt nauseous and thought I was going to be sick.  I could not eat meat for three months.  Eventually, all I would eat was pepperoni on my pizza and chicken club sandwiches.  Both were my favourite dishes.  Then another neighbour had chickens in his backyard and I sort of adopted them too, encouraging him to let them enjoy my backyard as I have lots of trees for shade and places for them to dig and sit.  I would throw them scraps of food.  Needless to say I can no longer eat chicken.  The chickens are now gone and I do hope he does not bring more.  I was still left with pepperoni on my pizza.  I was stopped at a red light in the city and I saw two cows in one of those transporting vehicles for animals.  I looked into their sad eyes.  It was as if they knew they were going to become pepperoni for my pizza.  I promised them silently that I would never again eat them.
     I was raised in the city and not in the country.  My parents, immigrants from other countries never dreamt of trying to become farmers in the city.  I appreciate multiculturalism but country is one thing and city is another.  I did suggest that country was probably best suited to the bunny killer ( I even called bunny rescue).
      I realise that I decided to become a vegetarian because I no longer could visualize what I was eating as just meat.  I began to see creatures that live and die and have young ones and love just like us at a different scale.  Perhaps they are more humane.  I do not expect people to stop eating meat because I know that it will not happen.  But what we can do is respect what we eat and that includes every living creature.
     I know that the actor does not think he has done anything wrong.  But just stop and reflect for one moment.  Is it necessary to watch something die or cause suffering when it is not necessary and broadcast it on television?   That is one channel I will never think of paying to watch.  What do you think?