(Don’t mind the silly title, I couldn’t think of a better one.)

When people find out that I’m vegetarian, 99% of the time, they will respond with, “Why?” usually followed by their guesses as to why I am so.

The top two guesses are, in no particular order - it’s for religion, or I’m on a diet.

…

LOL.

No and no. I’m not religious, and I’ve never needed to go on a diet.

I’m vegetarian because I love animals. It only follows that I don’t eat those I love. Though, after learning more about vegetarianism, I can say that I’m also one for my health, the environment, and my spirituality. But yeah, the animals are my main reason, and that’s what I tell people when they ask.

Lately I’ve started carrying doggie treats around with me - no, I’m not gonna snack on them. They’re for stray dogs. I know a couple of treats aren’t going to keep them from getting hungry. And I know that it’s not going to get them off the streets - which would be the ultimate goal. But this is what I can do for now. So far, I’ve fed two doggies, and they were both very sweet. I’d take them home with me if I could. =[

To end, here are some of my favorite vegetarian quotes.

“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murders of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”
- Leonardo da Vinci

“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.”
- Thomas A. Edison

“To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime.”
- Romain Rolland

“If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth — beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals — would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?”
- George Bernard Shaw

“You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.”
- Albert Schweitzer

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
- Albert Einstein