Ethan Bruck
Professor Smith
EN-101-137
10 September 2013
Summary of “Animal Suffering: Learning Not to Care and Not to Know” “Animal Suffering: Learning Not to Care and Not to Know,” by William Crain addresses the issue humans have created in relation to raising children and killing animals for meat. The topic of killing animals, even for food, is always in debate. It becomes evident at a young age that children have a profound love for animals. In a specific 1999 study performed by Psychologist David Foulkes, it was found that kids under the age of seven tend to dream about animals, in one way or another. Most children understand that animals are their own beings and should be treated with respect, but what they don’t understand is that meat comes from many of the animals they care about so deeply. When kids find out about animals dying in order for meat to be produced, they immediately want to become a vegetarian. Due to their ages, these decisions are highly irrational, but still require parents to spend hours convincing their kids to abandon vegetarianism. Animals and people struggle to live in peace together, and young children dream of a harmless world. There is not enough research on the subject matter of how children react to choices made by adults with respect to animals and food. Going through life allows children to transform from a caring child to a detached adult. This transformation is crucial to understand the practices and lifestyles followed by the human race. From late 2005 through the present, a study was conducted to determine the average understanding of adults on the issues that factory farms encounter. The study showed that an extreme majority had nonexistent knowledge of factory farms and their problems. Despite this being an informal survey, it is evident that adults focus too much on the problems at hand then those that will affect things in the long run. The global concern about animal welfare in relation to food is almost nonexistent. Approximately 1.6% of the population follows a vegetarian diet in order to protect animals. No studies have been conducted, nor evidence found that the concern for animals is on the rise, but with the way the world is deteriorating, it is possible that adults are gaining a sense of care. Due to the location of most factory farms, the general population is isolated from most contact with them. While the media could easily cover the problems experienced on these farms, people would find it boring and ratings would drop; therefore, these farms are never talked about. The English language also deflects the issues away from general concern. For example, when we say the type of meat we are eating as opposed to the animal it came from, it doesn’t put a bad image in our heads. We do this in a sense of denial of the issues at hand. To talk about eating the animal itself would make many of us lose our appetites. It’s evident that children have stronger feelings about animals than adults do; however, the effort to save animals is minimal.

Smith, Wesley J. “Animal Suffering: Learning Not to Care and Not to Know”
A Brief Guide to Writing From Readings, Ed. 6. Stephen Wilhoit. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. 2013. 253-259. Print