Creating empathy - what you didn't know about farm animals

As a passionate advocate for animal rights and almost entirely #vegan for about a year now (I still eat eggs from happy chickens!), I’m constantly trying to convince others who haven’t realized yet that we don’t have to harm animals in order to eat and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Mostly, I’ve done this by showing disturbing photos and videos of abused animals in slaughterhouses and food factories, like in this rant of mine from last week, but I’m realizing now that this may not be the right approach.

Triggering empathy

Empathy is a tricky thing. We cannot feel sad for someone, unless we can relate to that person.

Even those of us who consider ourselves to be good people will simply switch TV channels when seeing stranded Syrian refugees, or pictures of conflicts somewhere far away from home. Although the idea of war makes us sad, we can’t really relate due to the lack of exposure to it. We simply don’t know any better.

The same is true with animal suffering. For instance, we keep cats and dogs as pets, therefore a malnourished or abandoned dog will make us sad.

We lack empathy towards farm animals

We don’t feel much empathy towards farm animals, because we have never been close to them, have never petted one or raised one, and for most of the people living in cities, have never even seen a turkey or a goat in flesh and blood.

Everyone has tasted bacon at some point (unless you’re Muslim!), but how many have ever touched a pig?

Farm animals are simply considered food or ingredients. We call them "pork" and "beef" instead of "pigs" and "cows", which separates us even more from the fact that they are sentient beings. We know they do exist (as in, they do live) and that animal abuse is bad, but we spend as much time thinking about their suffering, than we do about the 65+ millions of displaced people in the world today.

How can we change that?

Instead of showing people the bad and the ugly, we need to make them relate to these animals by showing that cows etc. can also be cute, pleasant and intelligent companions, loyal and affectionate, just like a cat or a dog.

So here I’m just throwing some cuteness at you...

• Did you know that cows like to cuddle? Don’t take my word for it, just watch this video below:

• Did you know that turkeys are extremely affectionate animals, and that they do not only hug their owners but feel jealousy as well?
  

• Did you know that chickens have excellent memory, problem solving skills, and that they get really attached to their owners?

Here are the chickens in my backyard:

• Did you know that pigs can be trained just like dogs, and that they love to play just like their canine friends? In fact, they make excellent pets:

• Lambs & sheep just wanna be loved and play
  

• And let’s not forget about our marine friends. Did you know that the octopus is incredibly intelligent, recognizes human faces and even plays when bored?

Check out this amazing video here:

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this little compilation of cuteness, and that it has triggered some empathy in you =). If it has, my mission is accomplished.