When a dog dies in a movie almost all of us are in agreement: we absolutely cannot stand it. (Remember "I Am Legend"? Enough said.) If you're like me, it hurts even worse than when most of the human characters die.

We're often reminded of our own pets—what if that happened to them? Our perfect, innocent, furry family members are so close to us in our hearts that the idea of them dying is unfathomable.

Even as a country we can almost all agree that abuse toward domestic animals is intolerable. Just last year the FBI officially considered animal cruelty as a Group A offense (along with other crimes such as burglary, arson, kidnapping and even homicide). They now consider it "a crime against society."

So why do we all want to protect animals like dogs and cats and yet we turn around and eat animals like cows and pigs? By eating meat we are supporting an industry that allows for the abuse and murder of innocent animals, while at the same time opposing that same thing towards other innocent animals. We are justifying the murder of one animal and punishing the murder of the next. But why?

One argument could be that it is because animals like cows, pigs and chickens taste good. Okay, fair enough. If you like the taste of something and it has some nutritional value - what's so wrong with that? Well, what about eating dogs then? Eating dogs and cats is a fairly common thing in many Asian countries. The meat is said to be delicious and even considered a delicacy, supposedly bringing good health and luck to those who eat it. There is a dog meat festival in Yulin, Guangxi province in China where around 10,000 dogs are sold to be eaten every year. This has caused an uproar among many Americans, who, in their disgust, have begun petitioning to put an end to the festival and to push China into eliminating dog meat from their diets. (You can support this petition here).

While we're on the matter, what about eating other people? Cannibals report the taste is similar to either pork or veal (there's an argument on the matter). Most (sane) people are probably grossed out at the thought of this (rightfully so). I mean, we're human beings. We care about where our bodies end up, we care about what happens to us. We don't want to end up in another person's belly.

Another argument many make is that animals, like cows and pigs, don't have the same intelligence, emotions or sensitivity that dogs and cats do. They aren't relatable and they aren't capable of being companions like our pets are. However, this is a huge misunderstanding. Animals are recognized more and more as sentient beings - meaning that they can feel both positive and negative emotions. In fact, just last year New Zealand legally recognized animals as sentient beings.

Cows are extremely emotionally sensitive - they can feel emotions such as joy, fear, excitement, curiosity and anger. They can hold grudges and they can make best friends.

Pigs are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet. They're right up there with dolphins, dogs and our closest relatives - chimpanzees! In fact, pigs are said to be just as smart as, or smarter than, human toddlers! They love to play and they even show empathy toward other animals. Pigs are even becoming popular pets for many people.

Chickens are also shown to experience empathy. They are amazing observational learners and often look to their mother for guidance. They have wonderful memories and even use these memories to plan for situations to come.

All animals are different. They communicate in different ways, and they're unique in how they experience the world. However, the animals we eat are not much different than the animals we protect. At the core of it, they aren't even that different from you and I.

So why do we choose favorites? Why do we continue to eat animals that aren't any less emotionally intelligent or sensitive as those that we fight day in and out to protect?

Perhaps we are misinformed or in denial. More likely, perhaps it is a mixture of the two. We typically don't see the animals we eat everyday. We don't see them lying at our feet in the morning, we don't play tug of war with them and we don't get to be praised for rescuing one from the pound. The animals we eat are out of sight, out of mind.

We can ignore the preachy Facebook posts from vegetarians and vegans, we can surround ourselves with like-minded meat lovers that will consistently reassure us that we're just following the natural order of life, and we can keep a closed mind on the topic and argue that it's because "we have always eaten meat." Or we can open our minds and behave like the evolved, intellectually superior species that we are and accept the staggering proof that our argument for picking which animals deserve life, doesn't hold up as well as we thought.

More research is coming out everyday that is giving us an inside look at the overwhelming amount of information showing sentience among all kinds of animals. Hopefully along with that research follows education and awareness for the better treatment for animals of all kinds.