thoughtaboutanimalscanwebuildasolidfoundationforthe
abolition of this exploitation.
Ourattitudes to animals begin to form when we arevery
young,andtheyaredominatedbythefactthatwebegintoeat
meatatanearlyage.Interestinglyenough,manychildrenat
firstrefusetoeatanimalflesh,andonlybecomeaccustomed
to it after
strenuouseffortsbytheirparents,whomistakenlybelievethat
itisnecessaryforgoodhealth.Whateverthechild’sinitial
reaction,though,thepointtonoticeisthatweeatanimalflesh
longbeforewearecapableofunderstandingthatwhatweare
eatingisthedeadbodyofananimal.Thuswenevermakea
conscious, informed decision, free from the bias that
accompaniesanylong-establishedhabit,reinforcedbyallthe
pressuresof social conformity, to eat animalflesh. At the
sametimechildrenhavea naturalloveofanimals,and our
society encouragesthem to be affectionatetoward animals
suchasdogsandcatsandtowardcuddly,stuffedtoyanimals.
Thesefactshelptoexplainthemostdistinctivecharacteristic
oftheattitudesofchildreninoursocietytoanimals—namely,
thatrather thanhavingone unifiedattitudeto animals, the
child has two conflicting attitudes that coexist, carefully
segregated sothatthe inherentcontradiction between them
rarely causes trouble.
Notsolongagochildrenwere broughtuponfairytalesin
whichanimals,especiallywolves,werepicturedascunning
enemiesofman.Acharacteristichappyendingwouldleave
thewolfdrowninginapond,weigheddownbystoneswhich
theingeniousherohadsewnintoitsbellywhileitwasasleep.
Andincasechildrenmissedtheimplicationsofthesestories,
they could all join hands and sing a nursery rhyme like: