I don't understand "animal people" who say they are not environmentalists. Do they not realize that the vast majority of animals live in the environment?

It is important to meet people where they are. It reminds me of yoga, to which people may flock for the physical benefits, often to find that the spiritual benefits match or even outweigh them.

Come for the body, stay for the soul.

Seriously, many people have told me they can't eat turkeys anymore after getting to know them. I think in the wider world, when the stories air on the media, they help banish the idea that birds, other than parrots, are somehow lesser.

Caring for animals means caring for the environment they live in, and vice versa.

Some people feel that humans have a right to eat other animals but not to trash the earth. They may choose veganism because a vegan's ecological footprint is light, but once they are not invested in eating animals, they are more likely to be willing to learn the details of what happens to them. That learning will encourage compassionate people to stick with a plant-based diet.

Some of us seem to be born with a drive to try to make the world kinder. In my twenties, living in New York City, I worked in a soup kitchen every Sunday for many years, just trying to do my part. Then I read Animal Liberation and learned about factory farming and the killing of animals for oven cleaner and realized nobody needed my help as badly as the animals did.