We are cut from the same cloth, Pam! I became an ethical vegetarian in 1988 and am just as appalled as you that this group exists. I get the irony — believe me, I get it.

I once lived in the countryside beyond the city where I am now and was constantly shocked by the callousness I saw towards animals. Children would be given hunting rifles for Christmas — sometimes, when they were not yet in elementary school! My neighbors’ children bragged about killing deer before they were in middle school. Every home had heads mounted on the walls. I see this less now that I live in the city, but it’s not unheard of here either.

I can’t imagine what a dying or very sick child can gain from killing an animal or why causing death would be their wish.