From the products we buy to the way we care for our pets, small, seemingly harmless choices can have unintended consequences for wildlife, farm animals, and even the pets we share our homes with.

The good news? Once you know the impact, most of these habits are surprisingly easy to change! Here are seven simple ways you can make your daily life a little kinder to animals.

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1. Feeding Bread to Birds

You’ve likely seen a person lovingly tossing bits of bread to the feathered residents of the local pond. On the surface, this seems like a harmless way to interact with wildlife. However, the reality is a bit more bleak.

Bread fills ducks up without providing the nutrients they need, and a diet that’s too heavy in bread can contribute to malnutrition. Any uneaten bread left behind can also pollute the pond as it decomposes, encouraging algae growth and reducing water quality for fish, amphibians, and other wildlife.

A better option: If you’d like to feed the birds, choose oats, peas, chopped lettuce, corn, or duck feed. Or simply enjoy observing them in their natural habitat.

2. Letting Your Cat Outdoors

Many well-intentioned people let their cats go outside for enrichment and exercise. While these are two very important aspects of cat care, the potential consequences of allowing your cat to free-roam outdoors greatly outweigh any benefits.

Even well-fed cats have the natural instinct to hunt wildlife, such as birds, reptiles, and small mammals.

Outdoor life poses significant risks to your cat’s safety as well. Cars, diseases, predators, poisons, and harsh weather all shorten their average lifespan.

A better option: The simplest option is to keep your cat indoors. But if your furry friend insists upon outdoor access, build a secure outdoor “catio” (click here for catio building instructions) or take them outside on a harness if they enjoy exploring (click here for leash training guide).

3. Eating Gelatin

Many people don’t realize that their favorite fruity candy is actually made from boiling the skin, bones, and connective tissue from cows and pigs.

Gelatin can also be found hiding in other foods that you wouldn’t expect, such as marshmallows, sour cream, low-fat yogurt, and certain frosted cereals.

A better option: Check ingredient labels for gelatin, especially on candies and desserts. Some animal-free alternatives to gelatin include: agar-agar (derived from seaweed), pectin (found naturally in fruit), or carrageenan.

4. Releasing Balloons

Balloon releases can be a beautiful display of celebration or remembrance.

The problem is that every balloon eventually falls back to Earth.

Marine animals, birds, and turtles frequently mistake balloon fragments for food, which can lead to choking or intestinal blockages, while the attached ribbons can become wrapped around an animals limbs or even neck.

A better option: Celebrate with bubbles, flower petals (like these), biodegradable confetti (like this), or tree-planting events that create lasting memories without harming wildlife.

5. Using Pesticides in Your Yard

Many people turn to pesticides to manage issues with bugs in their homes or gardens, however many of these pesticides don’t distinguish between harmful insects and beneficial ones.

Bees, butterflies, ladybugs, and countless other insects are essential pollinators and play critical roles in various ecosystems. Many pesticides can harm these species directly or contaminate the plants they depend on.

A better option: Plant native flowers to encourage natural predators like ladybugs (who love to munch on aphids, mealybugs, and mites!). Try to only use chemical treatments as a last resort.

6. Buying Products Made with Unsustainable Palm Oil

Palm oil is found in thousands of products, from cookies and chocolate to shampoo and soap.

The issue isn’t palm oil itself. It’s how it’s sometimes produced.

In some regions, tropical rainforests are cleared to make room for palm plantations, destroying habitat for orangutans, pygmy elephants, Sumatran tigers, and countless other species.

However, there are companies that are committed to producing palm oil in a way that is sustainable and causes the least amount of damage possible.

A better option: When possible, choose products from companies that use certified sustainable palm oil. You can use a website or app like PalmOil Scan to check whether the products you use are sustainably sourced.

7. Buying Pets from Large Chain Pet Stores

Many of the pets sold in large corporate pet stores are exotic animals with highly specialized needs that are difficult to meet in a typical household. Some are captured from the wild, while others are bred in facilities that prioritize profit over animal welfare. If you think the animals are kept in poor conditions at the stores, the breeding facilities that supply them to the stores are far worse.

This article by The Dodo (Warning: Graphic!) describes the awful sight that an undercover informant for PETA witnessed at one of these facilities.

A better option: Adopt from a local animal shelter or rescue whenever possible. Many people don’t realize that shelters and rescues also care for rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, birds, lizards, snakes, and other small animals! By adopting instead of buying from a pet store, you're not only giving an animal a second chance, you also help reduce the demand that incentivizes companies to continue breeding and selling more animals for profit.

Check out PetFinder.com to find adoptable animals of all shapes and sizes in your area!

Small Changes Can Make a Big Impact

Helping animals doesn’t always require donating thousands of dollars or starting your own animal sanctuary. It’s often the small decisions we make every day that have the biggest collective impact.

Choosing more ethical products, keeping pets responsibly, and thinking twice before following common traditions can protect countless animals over a lifetime.

None of us gets everything right all the time, and that’s okay! The goal isn’t to be perfect. It’s to make better, more informed choices.

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When we talk about eliminating animal agriculture, protecting the environment, or improving public health, the conversation quickly starts to feel overwhelming. The solutions can seem nearly impossible: completely transform worldwide food systems and convince the global population to stop consuming animal products entirely.

But what if we started with something much smaller?

What if everyone ate just one vegan meal per week?

At first, this may sound insignificant. One meal out of the roughly 21 meals most people eat each week is less than 5% of a person’s diet. Would this change even make a difference?

Surprisingly, yes!

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The Impact for Animals

If we take the population of the United States for example, this would be approximately 340 million people. If each person replaced just one animal-based meal with a vegan meal every week, that would result in:

• 340 million fewer animal-based meals each week

• More than 17 billion fewer animal-based meals every year

It’s estimated that for every 3-10 animal-based meals that are replaced by vegan ones, 1 animal is saved from slaughter.^[1] This number is obviously a rough approximation and depends on the species of animal (i.e. cow vs shrimp vs chicken, etc).

However, even if we go off the most conservative estimate, that would add up to:

Individual actions may seem insignificant on their own, but when millions of people participate, the impact becomes enormous.

One vegan meal won’t eliminate animal agriculture, but reducing the demand matters. Food companies, restaurants, and grocery stores pay attention to consumer choices. Their goal is to make a profit, and the way to do this is to supply the demand. As more people choose plant-based options, even occasionally, businesses adapt.

We’ve already seen this happen. Plant-based milks, meat alternatives, and vegan menu options are far more common today than they were just a decade ago. This growth didn’t happen because everyone became vegan overnight. It happened because people started buying plant-based foods.

The Impact for the Environment

Animal agriculture requires enormous amounts of land, water, and resources.

Carbon Emissions

Researchers estimate that replacing a typical meat-based meal with a plant-based meal saves approximately 2–3 kg of CO₂e. If we use the conservative estimate of 2.5 kg CO₂e, that comes out to 44.2 metric tons of CO₂e saved annually.

According to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, this is equivalent to:

10.3 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year

The annual electricity use of over 7 million homes

About 730 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years

Water Usage

A meat-heavy meal often requires 500–700 gallons more water than a comparable vegan meal (depending on the meat and ingredients).^[2]

Using the conservative estimate of 500 gallons saved per meal, this comes out to 8.85 trillion gallons of water saved every year.

That’s enough water to fill roughly 13 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Land Usage

Plant-based meals generally require about 75% less land than animal-based meals.

Though it’s hard to come up with an exact estimate of how much land could be saved per plant-based meal, animal agriculture uses nearly 80% of global agricultural land while producing less than 20% of the world's calories.^[3] Even a slight reduction in this demand can mean significantly less land usage over time.

While the impact of one meal may seem negligible, when you multiply that choice by millions of people, it can significantly reduce the amount of resources used and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

Though a single meal will not reverse climate change, collective shifts by consumers can reduce pressure on the systems contributing to environmental damage.

The Impact for Public Health

It’s important to note that “vegan” is not a synonym for “healthy”. French fries, potato chips, and soda are all typically vegan.

In general though, many plant-based meals include foods that nutrition experts consistently encourage us to eat more of: fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.

For many people, the addition of even one plant-based meal each week can be an opportunity to discover nutritious dishes and incorporate more whole foods into their diet. It may just take one small step out of their comfort zone to lead them to larger changes over time.

Is One Meal Enough?

No.

If the goal is to eliminate the animal agriculture industry or dramatically reduce environmental impacts, one vegan meal per week is not enough by itself.

But systematic change never starts with perfection, and it never happens overnight.

One vegan meal per week is accessible. It’s achievable. And for many people, it’s far less intimidating than an all-or-nothing commitment.

What you eat for dinner today may not change the world, but it could bring us one step closer to creating a movement that does.

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Sources

1. What difference can one person make by going vegan? - Veestro.com

2. Scarcity-weighted water use of foods per 1000 kilocalories - OurWorldInData.org

3. Environmental Impacts of Food Production - OurWorldInData.org

The short answer: Yes

The long answer: It’s complicated

The question of whether fish feel pain has been debated for decades. However, the current evidence suggests that fish are capable of experiencing pain, though it may differ than the pain that humans experience.

The current debate is not whether fish react to harmful stimuli. Scientists confirmed long ago that fish can detect injury and respond to it. The more complex question is whether fish consciously experience pain rather than merely exhibiting automatic reflexes.

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Pain vs Nociception

To understand this debate, it’s helpful to distinguish between two related concepts: nociception and pain.

Nociception is the nervous system’s ability to detect and react to harmful stimuli, such as extreme heat or injury. All vertebrates experience nociception.

On the other hand, pain is the subjective experience associated with injury or harm. It is not simply detecting damage to the body. It is the unpleasant feeling that motivates an animal to avoid that damage in the future.

For example, if you accidentally touch a hot stove, you will quickly pull your hand away before your brain has time to actually process the pain. That reflex is nociception. The burning sensation that follows is pain.

The challenge for scientists is that we cannot directly measure another animal’s subjective experience. Instead, we must infer it from anatomy, physiology, and behavior.

What Does the Evidence Show?

Researchers have identified nociceptors in several fish species, including rainbow trout. But the evidence extends beyond just anatomy.

Studies have found that injured fish often exhibit behavioral changes that seem to go beyond simple reflexes. These changes may include:

• Reduced feeding

• Altered swimming behavior

• Rubbing injured body parts against surfaces

• Avoidance of locations associated with negative experiences

Taken together, these findings have led many scientists to conclude that fish are capable of experiencing more than a simple reflexive response to harm.

Do Fish Feel Pain the Same Way Humans Do?

Probably not.

Fish are anatomically very different than humans. This fact has led some researchers to conclude that fish may not experience pain in the same way mammals do. Others argue that different brain structures can still allow for conscious experiences, including pain.

However, the question is not whether fish can experience suffering, as the evidence shows that fish respond negatively to negative stimuli, and actively try to avoid it. Rather, the question centers on the nature and complexity of that suffering.

But does the way they experience suffering really matter? Dogs, cats, birds, and humans all experience the world differently, yet we do not disregard their suffering simply because it differs from our own.

Why This Matters

It is estimated that each year, more than 2 trillion wild fish are caught and 124 billion fish are farmed globally.

Fish represent one of the largest groups of vertebrate animals directly affected by humans, yet discussions about animal welfare frequently focus on mammals and birds, while fish receive comparatively little attention.

However, this is beginning to change. In recent years, animal welfare organizations, researchers, and policymakers have brought increasing attention to issues such as slaughter methods, stocking densities in aquaculture, and the treatment of fish during capture and transport.

A Better Question

When people ask whether fish feel pain, they are often looking for a simple yes or no answer.

Unfortunately, we cannot step inside a fish’s mind or ask them what they are experiencing. What we can do is look at the evidence. The anatomical structures and behavior patterns observed by scientists strongly suggest that fish can experience negative states associated with injury and harm.

Perhaps the more important question is not whether fish experience pain exactly like humans do. It is whether we should take the possibility of their suffering seriously. Given the evidence available today and the vast number of fish affected, the answer to that question seems increasingly difficult to ignore.

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Take Action!

According to Animal Charity Evaluators, these are a few of the organizations making the biggest impact for fish welfare. I highly recommend checking out the info on these websites and supporting their mission to bring to light the suffering these animal experience.

Together, we can create a more humane and compassionate world for everyone. Including our underwater friends.

• Fish Welfare Initiative

  • Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) works to reduce the suffering of farmed fishes in India, China, and the Philippines.

• Aquatic Life Institute

  • Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) works globally to improve the welfare of farmed and wild caught aquatic animals.

• Shrimp Welfare Project

  • Shrimp Welfare Project (SWP) works to improve the welfare of farmed shrimps in Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and India.

If you’ve been involved in animal welfare or advocacy for a while, you may have noticed that stories that once brought you to tears or left you with a pit in your stomach barely seem to affect you anymore. Instead, you feel...numb. Maybe that scares you. Maybe it makes you feel guilty. Or maybe you’ve convinced yourself that having “thick skin” is just part of the job.

If this sounds like you, you might assume you are simply “burnt out” or need a vacation. However, you may actually be experiencing something called compassion fatigue.

What Is Compassion Fatigue?

Charles Figley, a renowned traumatologist who first developed the concept, defined compassion fatigue as:

“the deep physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion that can result from working day to day in an intense caregiving environment.”

He describes it as a form of secondary traumatic stress, meaning it is a type of PTSD that doesn’t come from experiencing trauma directly, but rather from repeatedly being exposed to the suffering of others. Because of this, it’s often seen in what are called “helping professions,” like doctors, nurses, first responders, social workers, and, of course, people working in animal welfare and advocacy.

It’s important to note that compassion fatigue isn’t limited only to people working directly with animals. Even just regularly being exposed to animal suffering through social media or advocacy can build up over time and lead to emotional exhaustion or numbness.

Whether you’re experiencing emotional trauma as a part of your job or by staying up-to-date on animal welfare topics in your personal time, the symptoms of compassion fatigue can show up in various ways.

Symptoms

Common symptoms may include:

• Emotional Numbness: Distressing stories or situations may not carry the same emotional weight as they used to.

• Fatigue and Exhaustion: No matter how much rest you get, you still feel tired.

• Feelings of Helplessness: You feel like nothing you do truly makes a meaningful difference.

• Loss of Interest in Activities: Hobbies you used to enjoy no longer spark the same happiness.

• Irritability or Anger: You have become more impatient with coworkers, adopters, pet owners, or even loved ones.

• Cynicism: You have developed a negative outlook or assume the worst about people and their intentions.

• Difficulty Concentrating: You may forget tasks, make simple mistakes, or struggle to stay focused.

• Anxiety: You find yourself constantly worrying about the animals in your care even outside of work.

• Sleep Changes: You may have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or experience nightmares.

• Loss of Job Satisfaction: You no longer feel fulfilled by work that once gave you a sense of purpose. You may dread going to work and call out more frequently than you used to.

• Intrusive Thoughts: Upsetting cases or distressing images may continue replaying in your head long after the event.

• Changes in Appetite: You find yourself eating significantly more or less than usual.

While it’s normal to experience a few of these symptoms from time to time, when they begin to affect your daily life or become pervasive, it’s important to seek help. For a list of mental health resources, click here.

Common Progression

Similar to the stages of grief, compassion fatigue often follows a common pattern of progression. While each person’s experience is unique and personal, many people in the animal welfare space describe going through a variation of the following 4 stages:

1. “Zealot” Phase: When you first begin working in animal welfare or advocacy, you’re full of passion and optimism. Because you’re eager to help as many animals as possible, you may willingly work long hours and immerse yourself in the mission. Even when the work is physically and emotionally difficult, it feels meaningful.

2. Withdrawal Phase: Over time, the realities of animal welfare begin to take their toll on you. The overwhelming number of animals in need, heartbreaking cases, limited resources, and difficult decisions become emotionally draining. Your enthusiasm starts to fade, and exhaustion and frustration begin to take its place.

3. Irritability Phase: Small setbacks start to feel overwhelming and you may notice you become irritated or angry with coworkers and the public more quickly than you used to. You begin to feel pessimistic and bitter, particularly toward “irresponsible” pet owners or the systems that fail to prevent animal suffering.

4. “Zombie” Phase: In the final stage, emotional exhaustion can turn into numbness and detachment. The empathy and passion you once felt for the cause is replaced with resentment, hopelessness, or complete emotional shutdown. Without support, some people leave the field altogether, while others bear the weight of significant anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges.

Not everyone will experience every stage, and many people move back and forth between them. Recognizing these patterns early is important, because compassion fatigue is treatable, and seeking support can help prevent it from becoming overwhelming. For a list of mental health resources, click here.

Prevention

While compassion fatigue is all too common in animal welfare, there are steps you can take to reduce its impact. Remember, caring for yourself isn’t selfish. It’s essential to furthering your mission of helping animals long-term.

Some strategies that can help include:

• Set healthy boundaries and take breaks. If a situation is particularly distressing for you, try to step away to regroup. Taking a walk or grabbing lunch with a coworker can help you reset before returning to the task. And remember that PTO is not a bad word! Use your time off to relax, and come back to work refreshed and reenergized for the mission!

• Prioritize your needs. Do your best to get enough sleep, eat healthy, exercise, and stay hydrated. This is easier said than done, of course, but any small act of self care is a step in the right direction.

• Stay connected. Lean on your coworkers, friends, family, or peer support groups (such as Lifeboat by NOMV) who understand what you’re experiencing.

• Make time for activities you enjoy. Hobbies and activities outside of animal welfare can give you an outlet to emotionally reset. This can be as simple as planning regular date nights with your partner, setting aside quiet time to read a book, or starting a weekly movie night with friends.

• Limit exposure to distressing content. If you’re off the clock, it’s important to take a break from social media that includes graphic animal cruelty topics. It may be helpful to have separate social media accounts for personal use vs advocacy. This way you can take a break from distressing content while still connecting with friends and family online.

• Celebrate small wins. Focus on the animals you’ve helped rather than only those you couldn’t save. For example, if you work at an animal shelter or rescue, keep a folder on your phone or computer dedicated to post-adopt updates and success stories.

• Ask for help. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, reach out to a supervisor, mentor, mental health professional, or your healthcare provider as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you are in crisis. For a list of mental health resources, click here.

Remember, you don’t have to carry this weight alone. Taking care of your own well-being does not mean you are weak or selfish. It’s what allows you to continue being there for the animals who need you.

When to Step Back

If you feel that the work you are doing is harming your mental health or causing you significant distress, it’s okay to walk away.

This doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’ve made massive sacrifices to help animals in need, and now it’s time to show yourself the same compassion.

If you decide to step back from direct animal care or advocacy, but still want to help animals in some way, here are a few ideas:

• Donate to organizations that are working towards the causes you are passionate about.

• Volunteer your time and skills doing less emotional work for animal welfare organizations. Do you have experience with web design, accounting, writing, data management, IT, facilities maintenance, etc? Reach out to offer your services! You can also keep an eye out for volunteer job postings on sites such as the ones listed below:

  • Animal Advocacy Careers

  • VeganWork.com

  • VeganJobs.com

Conclusion

If you believe you’re experiencing compassion fatigue, know that you are not alone. Many people who dedicate their lives to helping animals experience the emotional weight of witnessing suffering day after day. Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or discouraged doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

The compassion that drew you to this work is one of your greatest strengths, but even the strongest people need support. By recognizing the signs of compassion fatigue early, setting healthy boundaries, and making your own well-being a priority, you can continue making a meaningful difference for animals without sacrificing yourself in the process.

You can’t save every animal, but the animals you’ve helped matter. The kindness you’ve shown, the lives you’ve changed, and the compassion you’ve given have made a difference. Remember that taking care of yourself doesn’t come at the expense of the animals you help. On the contrary, it’s actually one of the most important ways to ensure you can keep helping them for years to come.

Have you experienced compassion fatigue while working with or advocating for animals? I'd love to hear your story in the comments. Sharing our experiences can help remind others that they don't have to face this alone.

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US & Canada): Call or Text 988

International: Click here

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Sources

Compassion fatigue as secondary traumatic stress disorder by Charles Figley

Compassion Fatigue in the Animal Welfare Community by Charles Figley

If you’ve ever been to New York City, you’ve probably seen the horse-drawn carriages around Central Park. At first glance, this seems like a fun and memorable tourist attraction. But if you’ve spent any time following animal welfare issues, you’ve probably heard just the opposite.

The Controversy

The biggest argument boils down to this: Bustling cities are no place for horses.

Think about it. Horses are prey animals. They’re naturally alert, easily startled, and meant to roam large open spaces, not spend their days surrounded by honking cars, sirens, construction, and large crowds of people. Even if a horse is well-trained and accustomed to city life, it only takes one unexpected moment for things to go wrong. And unfortunately, there have been many such incidents over the years. There are multiple reports of carriage horses becoming frightened, collapsing, or getting injured in the city traffic.

While these incidents aren’t an everyday occurrence, they are frequent enough to cause concern, especially given the condition these horses often work in:

• Standing on pavement for hours

• Working during hot summers and cold winters

• Breathing in traffic pollution all day

• Pulling heavy carriages through busy streets

• Not getting time to actually be horses!

The Other Side

Of course, the people who work in the horse-drawn carriage industry don’t see it that way. They argue that the horses are well cared for, receive regular veterinary care, and have limits on how long they can work. Many drivers genuinely love their horses and say they would never put them in danger.

Though it would be unfair to claim that every carriage driver is cruel or doesn’t care about their animals, this isn’t what is being debated. The real question at hand is whether working in one of the busiest cities in the world is a humane and appropriate life for these horses.

Recent Incidents

The push to ban horse carriages in New York City was reignited recently with a couple of tragic incidents.

First, a carriage horse named Deniz collapsed and died while working in Central Park after consuming a toxic plant in the park. Heartbreaking videos of his final moments began circulating social media, sparking public outrage.

Then, only a few days later, an 18 year old tourist named Romanch Mahajan was killed when a horse became startled and ran off, causing its carriage to overturn. After the accident, New York temporarily stopped carriage rides while officials reviewed safety measures.

A Step in the Right Direction

New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has voiced his support of the initiative to ban this practice and ensures that he aims to “deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.”

Several cities have already made the move to ban this practice altogether.

For example:

• Chicago banned horse-drawn carriages in 2020.

• Salt Lake City followed in 2022 after a horse named Jerry collapsed in street and later died.

• San Antonio banned horse-drawn carriages in 2024, making them the first city in Texas to do so.

• Philadelphia banned horse-drawn carriages just last week in June 2026.

• Biloxi, Mississippi and Key West were two of the first US cities to ban this industry.

• Several international cities, including parts of India, Spain, and Australia, have also banned this industry in recent years.

Take Action!

So what can we actually do to help?

Contact Your Local Representatives

If you live in a city where horse-drawn carriages are still legal, write your local public officials to express your concerns.

Speak Up on Social Media

Sharing credible information can help raise awareness. Rather than posting graphic photos or attacking people who disagree, try posing thoughtful questions or sharing facts from reliable sources.

Support Organizations Working on the Issue

Many animal welfare organizations advocate for ending horse-drawn carriage rides or improving protections for working horses. Supporting these groups through donations, volunteering, or simply sharing their educational resources can help amplify their efforts. I’ve linked a couple below.

• Animal Legal Defense Fund

• Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (site contains graphic images)

As a reminder, please keep in mind that many carriage drivers genuinely care about their horses. This issue isn’t about attacking or vilifying individuals, it’s about looking at the reality of this industry and asking whether this type of work still makes sense in modern cities. Real change can only happen when we focus on solutions instead of blame.

Sources

The Issues with Horse-Drawn Carriages

Horse-Drawn Carriage Bans

Central Park Horse-Carriage Rides Shut Down

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Most people think of themselves as animal lovers.

They stop their cars to let a mother duck cross the street with her ducklings, share Facebook posts from their local animal shelter, and treat their pets like members of the family. Yet many of these same people wouldn’t think twice about stopping for a burger on their way home from work, splurging for a new pair of leather boots, or surprising their child with a pet hermit crab that dies in a few months due to improper care. So how can both of these things be true?

The answer is uncomfortable but important:

Harming animals is rarely the result of intentional cruelty.

More often, it comes from a combination of cognitive dissonance, cultural norms, misinformation, and economic barriers.

If we want to help animals effectively, we need to understand why good people (ourselves included) sometimes make choices that directly cause their suffering.

What is Cognitive Dissonance?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says cognitive dissonance is “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously.”

Put simply, this means we feel uncomfortable when our actions don’t line up with our values.

So what do we do when we start to feel this discomfort? Our brain starts coming up with excuses.

• “Humans are designed to eat animals.”

• “A shock collar is the only way I can get my dog to behave.”

• “Animal testing is necessary to keep humans safe.”

This thought pattern is a normal part of human psychology. It doesn’t mean that you’re a “bad” person. However, it does mean that we must take a step back and examine whether our beliefs are actually based in fact or simply niceties that our brain is telling us to ease our discomfort.

The Power of Culture

If you grew up in the United States, the thought of cooking and eating a dog would likely turn your stomach. Yet thousands of people attend the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China each year. In the same vein, eating cow meat is seen as taboo or even illegal in some parts of India, while it is a common part of daily life for many Americans.

Though cognitive dissonance may lead some people to brush off the ethical concerns with the animal agriculture industry, there are many others who have never even considered the ethical arguments for or against it.

As a kindergartener eating chicken nuggets for lunch, you likely didn’t think “Was this chicken treated humanely?” Your parents ate chicken. Your friends ate chicken. People on TV ate chicken. Your growing brain absorbed all of this information and neatly tucked it away into the Normal folder along with wearing shoes, brushing your teeth, eating three meals a day, etc.

Malice or Misinformation?

We’ve already discussed how our culture and psychology can tell us that eating a chicken or cow is perfectly acceptable, while eating a dog or cat is vile and disgusting. Although it’s true that companion animals are viewed differently than “food” animals, they are often still seen as objects or commodities to some extent.

According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), the pet industry in the US brought in $158 billion in 2025 alone, and this number is expected to rise to $165 billion in 2026. With so much money on the line, it’s almost inevitable for profit to begin taking priority over the welfare of the animals.

One example of this is the amount of misinformation surrounding proper betta fish care. If a half gallon glass bowl with some rocks and a plastic plant sells better than a proper betta fish setup (5+ gallon tank, low-flow water filter, aquarium heater, water thermometer, soft live or silk plants, LED aquarium light, etc.), companies have a major incentive to convince customers that the glass bowl is an appropriate or ideal habitat.

Most people truly care about their pets and want to do what’s best for them. The person with a betta fish in a small bowl on their desk likely bought the Complete Betta Fish Starter Kit from their local pet store. The person who walks their dog on a prong collar took the advice of a neighbor who swears it worked wonders for their dog. The person who sprays their cat with water to keep them off the kitchen counter remembered their parents using a spray bottle on their childhood cat and never gave it a second thought.

Animal welfare is a complex topic with an overwhelming amount of conflicting information circling around the internet and media. Unfortunately, many well-meaning people simply have not been exposed to reliable information.

The Individual Victim Effect

Humans are generally more motivated by suffering they can see.

A neglected dog tied outside a neighbor’s house or an injured baby bird in your yard is emotionally compelling and would lead many people to take action. However, the welfare of animals hundreds of miles away in industrial farming systems can feel abstract and distant.

As Joseph Stalin put it:

“The death of a single Russian soldier is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.”

This cognitive bias is referred to as the Individual Victim Effect. The issue is not a lack of compassion. It is a result of human psychology.

Social Barriers

Sometimes even the people who have the knowledge, and desire to help animals are unable to do so due to various circumstances.

Animal welfare professionals frequently encounter people who love their animals but cannot afford veterinary care, behavioral services, or pet-friendly housing. From the outside, it may be tempting to view these people as irresponsible or negligent. In reality, many of these problems are symptoms of larger economic challenges.

Of course, this doesn’t erase the effect on the animals involved. The animals still suffer. But if we want to reduce that suffering, we must understand the reality of the situations people face. Simply placing the blame on the individual for their inability to provide for their pet misses opportunities to address the underlying causes and work toward a real and lasting solution.

A Better Question

When we see an animal harmed, often our first instinct is to ask: “Why would someone do that?”

Sometimes the answer is cruelty. But more often, the answer is more nuanced.

A more useful question may be:

“What factors led to this situation, and how can we change them?”

Understanding why good people sometimes do bad things to animals is not about excusing harmful behavior. It is about identifying the barriers that stand between people’s values and their actions.

If we can understand those barriers, we have a much better chance of helping both the people and animals most affected.