• scarabic@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It’s because most people don’t know a cow or chicken. If they did, things might be different. In fact I remember seeing Ira Glass speak and he recounted how he spent some time at a retreat where chickens roamed free, and after having the time and opportunity to observe that they think and feel and have different personalities, he became a vegetarian.

    • Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net
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      1 year ago

      I think you are probably right. For me it’s kind of the opposite but still consistent. When I was a child we had many different animals and I had names for many of them including the sheep Bartek which me and my sister would ride often. In the end we would eat all those animals (but not the dogs or cats). So I’ve been friends with other animals than dogs, I’d even say they were better friends then the dogs I had because I have a hard time remembering the dogs names.

    • SkippingRelax@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Doubt it. people had chicken roaming free in their backyard for millennia and never had an issue. One bloke observing chicken free and turning vegetarian is hardly an explanation.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        factory farms play a large role in people’s unease to buy meat from an industrial supplier.

        I think its less about empathizing with animals and more about understanding the casual brutality of guys in suits.