Did you grow up with a dog or cat and, looking back now as an adult, attribute that relationship to having played some kind of role in your interest in becoming a vegetarian or vegan? If so, you’re definitely on to something. And you’re in good company.

According to a new study published in the journal Appetite, children who develop a bond with a furry friend are indeed more likely to feel compassion for all animals – and to avoid meat as adults.

Specifically, the study asserts: “participants with greater childhood attachment to a pet reported greater meat avoidance as adults” in part because they see “at least some aspect of their childhood pets in the meat they eat.”

In other words, developing a relationship with a non-human animal may help to erase or at least blur that arbitrary line we’ve drawn between those animals we consider companions and those who we raise and kill for food.

After all, we know that farmed animals are just as a smart, social and playful as the dogs and cats with whom we share our homes. And the best way we can express our compassion for all animals is to simply leave them off our plates.

Help empower others to stand up for animals every time they sit down to eat by encouraging them to visit TryVeg.com today!