In tears and depressed. How do you cope?

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A horrific thumbnail of dogs being killed for meat appeared at the bottom of a website I was just on and has got me incredibly upset (bordering on distraught) and I just feel sick to my stomach. I''m not an overly sensitive person in general but the idea of a dog anywhere coming to harm makes me incredibly depressed. How do you guys cope when you encounter things like this? Please tell me of the positive things that are taking place to combat this. I've just donated to a dog charity but still in tears. God bless those poor souls.

I look at the positive. The people who work in rescues. The dogs who have had their lives turned around by amazing people and organisations.
I love my own pets just that little bit harder. I'm kind to other animals I meet.
I volunteer and support animal charities. Dog walking etc.
We can't change the world. But we can change our bit of it.

It's kind of the same as cows, pigs and sheep being killed for meat. You either eat animals or you don't I guess. Which I know sounds harsh but that's it. I'm vegetarian, mainly for environmental reasons but I've come to realise I'm not wild about the thought of eating our bovine, porcine and poultry friends.

Why are dogs any different? And yes, I have a hound who I'm inordinately besotted with but I realise that if we invited a pig into our living room s/he would be far more intelligent than our dense hound and would come out of his/her shell just like our hound did and become an affectionate member of the family and yet we view pigs differently.

If it was an image of a dog or animal being killed in a horrific non humane way for meat then I would be upset. However, if it was the same as any other animal breed and commercially killed for consumption then it would not upset me. I love my dog and wouldn't eat him but that is the same as when I kept rabbits and I loved them but I have eaten rabbit in the past and would do so again.

I got chickens and found them to be affectionate and intelligent pets. I don't eat chicken now. It's hypocritical....So it's a good time for me to think about becoming vegetarian, as like a previous poster said....I'm sure I would get attached to any animal I was living with. Maybe the picture you saw was inhumane and distressing....but UK factory farming is not so humane....but we normalise and accept it, to make ourselves feel ok. And slaughter always involves killing, however it's done

TropicPlunder I guess it does depend on how you look at eating meat. I honestly would try meat in a country that served up dog even though I adore my pet. It wouldn't make me want to eat my pet but then it wouldn't put me off seeing if I liked the taste of my 'non pet' meal. I guess I can easily compartmentalize the two which is why I don't feel hypocritical.

Yeah it's down to the individual. I've eaten all sorts, but I'm thinking a lot about it now. I'd rather eat a rabbit in a field that's been shot, than a chicken or sheep that's been through a conveyer belt slaughter house. Or been selectively bred so it can't walk after 4 months (broiler chicken). But as I couldn't eat my own chickens (or dog!) I didn't feel right eating somebody else's either somehow. Where I live, you can just happen to see an animal slaughter in a market if you're passing by. Honestly, it didn't use to bother me, but it does now. I haven't watched in a while and wouldn't like to do it myself. Sorry for derailing OP!