Defining Suffering

     Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines suffering in the following way: "...pain that is caused by injury, illness, loss, etc. : physical, mental, or emotional pain." https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffering 
     The Cambridge Dictionary defines suffering as "physical or mental pain."  http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/suffering

     Although all of the world's many religious and spiritual communities have their own beliefs about who suffers, and the causes and remedies for that suffering, there is not a lot of disagreement among the educated and compassionate that all sentient beings do experience physical and emotional pain.  The human body is subject to physical injury and in all but rare cases, the physiological reaction to such injury is pain. The same holds true for animals. There hasn't been a study conducted or published by a reputable scientist to show that animals do not feel pain.

    Many people on a very basic level, though, struggle with this notion and also - even more so - with the idea that animals can and do suffer in similar ways that humans do on an emotional level. I personally wonder if this is a protective device, a kind of rationalizing people use; it would be difficult - for some, anyway - to enjoy a cheeseburger or plate of lobster if you thought the cow that was slaughtered for the meat or the lobster that was boiled alive actually felt any real pain, or that their babies suffered any true grief at losing their moms.

    Many, if not most people, choose not to think about how the meat gets on their plates or what the dairy cow goes through when she's no longer able to produce any more milk.  Most people don't think about the hours that the cows and pigs spend crammed into overloaded trucks on hot highways on the way to the slaughterhouse.  Most don't think about the minutes they spend before being killed, smelling those killed before them.

    Many people don't think about the rabbits that are restrained while cosmetics are smeared on their eyeballs, to make sure they are safe for us.  Or the monkeys whose brains are exposed for testing and left exposed, while they are observed.  Or the beagles who are bred and raised to become test subjects in labs. Many people don't realize that all of these animals, after being cut open while awake, while suffering unimaginable pain and suffering for days, weeks, and months, sometimes years, are then killed and discarded like the week's trash.  And almost no one understands that most of this unregulated and non compulsory "research" yields NOTHING new and NOTHING useful to humans. And sometimes, it leads to incorrect and fatal results.

    There are always alternatives, though, and there is always something we can do. We can decide not to participate in activities that create more suffering in the world and we can spread the word about those products, companies, individuals, industries, and behaviors that promote it. We can research the alternatives, insist companies utilize them, lobby and petition for the government and companies to stop needless animal testing and the use of animals in their products, and boycott companies that participate in activities and produce products that create such suffering. We can pledge to follow a diet that is cruelty-free, and to live a more cruel-free lifestyle.  There is always something we can do.

    Metta to all.