Exploitation Isn’t a Love Language

Society loves animals. Or so it claims.

It posts photos of adorable cats in and dogs. It weeps when a whale washes ashore. It celebrates wildlife documentaries and raises money for rescue centres. It even has a day dedicated to hugging your dog.

But this same society also pays for pigs to be gassed. It buys the corpses of cows. It eats chickens selectively bred to grow so fast their bones collapse. It funds trawlers that drag marine animals to a slow, suffocating death.

This isn’t love. This is delusion dressed up as devotion.

Let’s get one thing straight: you cannot love animals and pay for their exploitation.

We hear it all the time: “I’m such an animal lover.” Said while biting into a bacon sandwich.  

“I care so much about animals.” Said while wearing a leather jacket.  

“Animals are better than people.” Said while pouring cow lactations into a coffee. Maybe they have a point on that one.

Every year, this “animal-loving” world slaughters billions of land animals and trillions of marine animals. Trillion. With a T. That’s more death than we can comprehend. For what? For sandwiches. For snacks. For five minutes of taste.

These are animals who think, feel, form bonds, experience fear, and want to live - just like the dogs and cats we protect.

You wouldn’t call someone a dog lover if they stabbed a dog.  

You wouldn’t call someone a cat lover if they paid to have cats skinned.  

So why do we call people “animal lovers” when they pay others to kill chickens, cows, sheep, and fish?

This is moral confusion. And it’s everywhere.

We know what love looks like. Love is protection. Love is respect. Love is care.  

Not forced impregnation. Not separation from children. Not mutilation. Not confinement. Not throat-cutting. Not gas chambers.

Put it this way: if a parent said they loved their child, but beat them daily, would we believe them?  

If a partner said they loved their spouse, but controlled and abused them, would we nod and accept it?  

Of course not. Because you can’t claim love while inflicting suffering. That’s not love - it’s ownership, control, and harm.

So why do the rules change for other animals?

Because society teaches us that some animals matter more than others. That harming a dog is monstrous, but harming a pig is breakfast. That skinning a cat is sick, but skinning a cow is fashion. That love has limits, drawn not by logic or compassion, but by habit and convenience.

Being an animal lover means loving all animals. Not just the ones we find cute or convenient.

A chicken doesn’t want to die any more than your golden retriever.  

A cow doesn’t want her children taken away any more than you do.  

A fish doesn’t want to suffocate any more than a hamster does.

We don’t get to pick and choose who deserves not to suffer.  

We don’t get to fund slaughterhouses with one hand and post animal memes with the other.  

We don’t get to pretend it’s love when it’s actually violence with a smiley face.

If their flesh is on your plate, it’s not love.

If their milk is in your mug, it’s not love.

If their skin is on your back, it’s not love.

If their suffering is behind your choices, it’s not love.

It’s convenience. It’s conformity. It’s comfort. But it’s not love.

Because real love doesn’t exclude. Real love doesn’t exploit. Real love doesn’t kill.

If you truly love animals, you must reject the systems that treat them as things. You must be vegan.

Not plant-based. Not trying your best. Vegan.

Because this isn’t about you. It’s about them.

It’s about removing the knife. Breaking the cycle. Ending the contradiction.

So the next time someone says, “I love animals” while tucking into someone’s leg, ask them what kind of love that is.

Because if paying for someone’s suffering is love, then love has lost all meaning.