What is the question you were given to answer for your essay? Just asking because I need specificity ;)
Answer: I think it is safe to say that most people own at least one pet, well just imagine if that pet is taken out of no where for testing products. you would be upset right? especially if that animal ended up dying in the end. well pets are just as important than wild animals, so we should start caring about them too! Wild animals are taken everyday to test new products. if taking one animal is wrong then taking ANY animal is wrong.
In the phrase, the author used "like", symbolizing that she is using a simile to compare her memory to the fresh watercolour painting left out in the rain (which would surely end a disaster as the painting would mix with the rain and become destroyed), which helps the reader have a familiar comparison to how she is feeling. You could also say she uses imagery to help the reader visualize and understand her struggles of her horrible past.