Let's teach children compassion for all

I read with sadness the 2012 Bonner County Market Animal Sale results published in the Sept. 5 Daily Bee. While some of those animals may have been purchased for breeding purposes, most will be slaughtered and eaten. Our 4-H kids and those children at the supper tables at which these animals are served will have been taught that these beings are ours to kill. These same children, no doubt, will have been taught to love and to responsibly care for pet animals. How can it be morally correct to both love one’s dog and to eat one’s pig or one’s lamb or one’s calf? Why do some parents set out sunflower seeds for sparrows and then serve chickens for dinner?

We cannot argue that we need animal protein in our diet. We don’t. In fact, our consumption of meat, dairy products, and eggs contributes greatly to the deaths of millions of Americans annually. Let’s face it. We eat meat because meat tastes good, and we either simply ignore or somehow rationalize the killing of the animals we eat.

Alice Walker wrote, “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” Let us feed our children both a healthier and a kinder diet — a meat-free diet. Let us teach our children to love and to show compassion for ALL animals.

ROBIN HELM, M.D.

Sandpoint