Children play with stuffed animals and take them to bed. They love to see movies and television programs involving animals. Petting zoos are increasingly popular, and young children squeal with delight at a chance to pet animals. Millions of people go to zoos annually, because they are intrigued by animals and want to learn more about them. Many people have pets and spend much time and money taking care of them.
Most people get upset when they hear about the mistreatment of animals.
Yet, there is tremendous abuse of animals in our society, a fact that many people are reluctant to face. The number of farm animals slaughtered for food per year has been increasing sharply, and is projected to exceed 9 billion in 1997. In the minds of many people, largely because of the effective propaganda of animal exploiters, there is a picture of animal rights advocates as people who condone violence, are more concerned with animals than with human beings, are not willing to harm an animal even if a human life could be saved, and readily equate the massively cruel treatment of animals with the Holocaust or other events involving the death of many people. Unfortunately, some of the statements and actions of dedicated animal rights advocates reinforce these beliefs. This often gives people an excuse to ignore the horrible treatment of animals, by rationalizing that they do not want to be associated with people with such extreme views.