Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.
Lately, I’ve been peeved with myself.
I’ve become terribly extra sensitive to topics concerning animals. I keep telling myself, “Get a grip!” but my heart aches and stomach tightens constantly. I have always loved and talked to animals, but my mind won’t take a break!
My husband watches an assortment of ‘Reality’ survival shows. On many, the ‘contestants’ have to harvest their own food. When it comes to catching and killing animals, I have to leave the room. If those people hadn’t been placed in those settings for our ‘entertainment’, those animals would have continued their natural lives!
I am not against hunting or harvesting animals when it’s humanely done and necessary BUT “for our morbid entertainment” isn’t good enough for me.
My sensitivity to roadkill has been elevated too. it haunts me far longer than ever.
Now, my teenage granddaughter is about to adopt a lovely kitten. Am I happy? Absolutely! Any teen having her own loved one to come home to is a smart venture. Teens do reckless things but feeling counted on and loved can offer their brain a more noble option to a momentary “thrill”. Yet, I’m going a bit off the deep end anticipating that kitten getting injured or lost! I know that I’m being irrational. What has happened to me?
I suspect that the constant level of angst that TV news is presenting is a large part of my heightened state of worry. I also know that they are doing that on purpose! My rational mind has temporarily lost its authority. I’m hoping that the holidays will serve as a well-timed distraction. Perhaps, I should indulge in an alcoholic beverage now and then. [I haven’t in quite a while.]
Whatever is going on, I promise that I’ll conquer it. But, for now I need to “GET A GRIP”!
Thanks for listening. ❤
Sillyfrog's Blog 
Oh, I hear you! I can’t bear cruelty toward animals and won’t watch anything that depicts it. Even in fiction it’s unacceptable for animals to be hurt, and I’m glad of the “rule” telling writers they had best not kill off family pets!
I’ve avoided literary and film depictions for years. Don’t get me started on those horrid SPCA commercials! They’re despicable for playing with our hearts that way. 😡
Oh I agree. I don’t want to see or hear or read about any animal being harmed or killed. It’s so hard to get it out of my memory of it even years later.
Talk about being “haunted”. That’s the worst!
I know! Sometimes I wish there was a delete button to get rid of those bad memories and things we’ve seen.
Hunting is definitely not my thing. I know a lot of people who do hunt, and they enjoy it and do eat what they kill. Somehow, that seems a lot more humane than slaughterhouses… but I’m a confirmed carnivore…
I’m no fan of the news, particularly when it comes to the news channels. I miss the days when the news was 15 minutes at noon, 15 minutes at 6 PM, and 30 minutes at 10 PM. Some stations used to have a news report after the late movie, but the late movie seems to have disappeared as well…
I agree on the slaughterhouses. Ugh… but I love beef! My grandparents owned a dairy farm, and I had a few personal relationships with cows and calves through the years. Another thing I cannot reconcile.
Mary grew up in Back of the Yards, the neighborhood just behind the Chicago stockyards. She said occasionally a cow would break loose and run through her neighborhood, probably knowing what was coming. I remember she said the closing of the stockyards was a serious blow to the neighborhood, because at one time or another everyone in her family worked there (not that there were that many people in the family).
I don’t think you are alone in these feelings and emotions Susan. I used to have a business that concentrated upon working with zoos, gameparks, private keepers and so on and one of my motivations was towards husbandry and micro-environmentalisation programmes or conservation. I am anti-cruelty and my resolve for seeing any form of cruelty now is as staunch as ever BUT l cannot watch cruelty of any sort any more and this too centres around hunting – l am not anti-hunt – l am for those who humanely kill for food but cannot tolerate any form of non-humane slaughter.
I am no longer a meat eater not for any other reason aside from my digestion system is unable to cope with red meats and more recently white meats – so my diet doesn’t play a role in these feelings – but it is quite simple – people hurt animals for fun, entertainment and sport and l no longer want nor wish to see it.
👍💜😉