||| SUN DAYS ON ORCAS by LEVI KULPER |||
Hello. My name is Levi and I am 11 years old. My mom let me write the column this week.
I want to say something that I actually don’t think many adults will listen to. A lot of people are used to making excuses about why it’s okay. Maybe it’s because they’re comfortable about how they live, and they don’t want to think about it.
But I ask for you to listen to what I have to say…
Animals matter.
I feel like most of the time people don’t think about their actions when it comes to animals. For example – and I know what you’re going to think when I bring this up – fishing. I know people eat fish because they like fish, or because their ancestors taught them to. But we’re able to get other sources of protein. You don’t have to keep doing things just because your ancestors did, if it means that you’re harming other creatures when you don’t have to.
People don’t seem to care that when they fish, they’re killing an actual living thing that has a heart and a soul just like the rest of us. Thanking the fish for its life doesn’t mean it wants to give its life. It’s easy to not think about it because people want to have salmon for dinner, or they want to have fun fishing. But the fish matter. Even barbless hooks – just imagine if you got a hook through your mouth and were released back home – it would really hurt, and it might keep you from ever eating correctly again.
If you have a dog or a cat, you wouldn’t want to kill them. You value the lives of your pets more because of the love you get from them. It’s about you, it’s not about them.
It doesn’t matter how small or how insignificant an animal seems. They all matter.
People often think that spiders are scary and harmful, and they don’t think twice about killing them. But spiders actually do good, and if you look at them closely, they’re fascinating. Even rats and mice – if they have infested your car or your house, you have to think about what they think, and what their instincts are. Rats and mice see homes and cars as places they can get warm and sleep, and they don’t understand that people will kill them for that.
It doesn’t seem fair that animals are killed just because people think of them as pests, when they’re not even trying to be pests. They’re just living their lives and trying to survive.
Before I say anything more, I know that when people kill animals for science, it can help the entire population of that animal. But it just doesn’t seem fair that we kill them. Sometimes people kill animals for experiments for purposes that won’t even benefit the animals; simply because humans always want to know more about everything. It isn’t fair to kill animals just for our curiosity.
I simply don’t understand how people will kill an animal without thinking about what it actually means for that animal. It won’t ever get another chance to live. It’s their only chance, and we ruin it. It seems like people don’t have a heart. To see an animal and then kill it? I just don’t know how people do it. It makes no sense.
People might not think that animals are equal to us. Humans like to say that animals aren’t as smart as humans, and it may only be because we don’t know everything about them. Even if we think they don’t have as much brain power, how does that make it right to take their life? Or to kill them to find out if they are smart? Just imagine killing a human. Death feels just as awful to animals as it does to us. Especially if it’s a slow death.
Sometimes animals can be tougher than us – they may get injuries we’d never recover from, and keep going. Animals may not be “smart,” but they can do things we could never do. Like certain smelling and hearing abilities, and really good night vision. You’d think we would want to keep them around for those amazing qualities.
Electric eels might not be able to do math, and we can’t electrocute things. Should they kill us just because we can’t electrocute things?
People might think that animals that hurt humans are bad, but that’s just their instinct. We shouldn’t hurt them back. We have the brain power to think for ourselves, and we can use that brain power to think wisely and kindly.
It’s easier to kill animals and move along with the rest of the day than to care about animals.
I have tried to tell people why animals matter, and they blow me off. I think it’s especially because I’m a kid. I think it’s also because all of this sounds really heavy. People think killing animals is okay because they’ve always done it. They don’t want to question their behavior. They want to do what they want to do, and they don’t want a kid to tell them it’s wrong. It’s easier for them to stay comfortable than to have to think about their actions.
I just want people to know that animals matter just as much as we do. So next time it’s easier to harm an animal than to help it, please think before you act.
Levi Kulper decided to be a vegetarian when he was four years old so that animals would not have to die in order for him to live. Levi started a YouTube channel in April 2020 about all of this. It’s here: youtube.com/
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Levi, thank you for these thoughts, and for understanding the limits of measuring value by human standards.
Thank you, Levi, by not killing animals for food we affirm life, eat more healthy, local food, and reduce carbon emissions … vegan diets are easy when you think about it.
As a person who’s eaten a plant-based diet for 27 years, I celebrate your perspective and, even more so, your courage to share it. In a world increasingly complicated by our desire to dominate nature rather than peacefully co-exist as means for our very survival, you represent what is right and true and bring me hope for our future. Thank you Levi, and keep writing!
Thank you Levi. A lot of adults feel the same way. You might like a book that my book group just finished reading, “Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel,” by Carl Safina. He’s spent his life learning about animals and their skills and their societies. He makes a really good case for just what you’re saying!
I am with you, Levi! Thank-you for being so thoughtful and such a careful observer of the world that we share with all creatures great and small!
Wow, thank you ALL for your kind words to Levi. We so appreciate you!!!
Thank you very much, Levi, for sharing your thoughts to encourage adults to think in a new way about animals. It’s great that you specifically mention fish and salmon. It is utterly shocking to still see salmon on local menus, while our Southern Resident Orcas cannot find enough to eat. Dr. Deborah Giles, UW Research Scientist and is one of the world’s leading experts on the Southern Resident killer whales. Dr. Giles said this:
“If you care about fish-eating Southern Resident Orcas,
don’t eat the food that they need.
We have a choice. They don’t have a choice.”
Thank you, Levi, for speaking from the heart and for those that do not have a voice.
Thank you so much for writing this article, Levi. You are so very wise beyond your years. I do wish more adults would think about the things the way you do and put themselves in the place of the animals you care so much about. Animals, like us, are sentient beings and deserving of our respect and compassion. I hope you will hold this passion close to your heart and use it to do great things in your life to make a difference for animals.