Many people go vegan when they realize that all animals are sentient beings in the same way we humans are. When children are very young, before they learn to talk, they can still communicate their feelings. It is obvious to most people when a young child is happy, sad, hungry, scared, in pain, warm, cold, satisfied, unwell, tired, energetic, and a host of other emotional states. It is also obvious to most people when pet animals are in any of these states. Most people will take pleasure in seeing pet animals, and children, in states of happiness and satisfaction. Most people will respond to the needs of children and pet animals when they see them hurt, hungry, cold and wet, or in pain. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing young animals and children playing happily together.
Many of the same people will look at farm animals ignoring their sentience and see only food. They ignore the cruelty and suffering the farming industry is putting these animals through, because they do not see them as sentient beings, with all the same feeling and emotions they recognize in people or their pets.
It is interesting that society has conditioned us to see some species of animals as pets, and other species of animals as food. For example, in most western countries people see dogs as pets. In some countries, such as Thailand, dogs are seen as wild dangerous potentially rabid animals that one must be cautious of. And in China they are seen as food.
Farmers in western countries often tolerate their children hand rearing an orphaned lamb for the first few months of their life. Country schools allow these children to bring their ‘pet’ orphans to school to parade in fairs. But most farmers carefully teach their children not to name the orphan lamb because the children might get upset a few months later when their hand reared orphan ‘pet’ lamb is sent to slaughter like the rest of the sheep.
Societies have conditioned their members to feel this about people from other societies also. This systemic prejudice is commonly based on religion, race, skin color, or financial status. It is generally propagated from generation to generation by people who either have a financial benefit in propagating the hatred, have had a perverted religious upbringing they have never questioned, or are simply too stupid to question the inequalities they see before them.
These injustices in society need to be pushed out into the open. Everyone needs to be forced into acknowledging the prejudices they have been raised with, acknowledge where these beliefs are wrong, and change the world for the better. This process begins with education. Many people become vegans when they come to this level of understanding.
We are all responsible for leaving the world in better condition than that in which we found it. We owe this to the planet’s children.