She seems to have adopted the attitude that animals should be treated very well while they are living, they should be VERY humanely killed (when that is necessary) and that those deaths should not be meaningless.
this, exactly, is DD's position - and it reminds me so strongly of why i quit meat way back in the day. she's very big on treading lightly on the earth and i think she really doesn't want to eat animals when she could be eating something else. LOVE the Michael Pollan suggestion - i've got several of his books on my shelf. she'd be totally ok with those comprehension-wise, and it would really help her extend her thinking on the subject.
and this is a bit of an aside, but it relates to the sensitivity issue... DD is fine with death in general - she asked about it very early, and really seemed to really process the idea that a living thing will eventually expire. she can calmly project herself into a future where her parents are dead - it's a little weird, but not morbid or ghoulish. i wonder if this is why she places such a high premium on being good to each other while we're all still alive... at any rate, she is also fine with animal research, as long as the animals are treated humanely (and she is TOTALLY aware of these issues, due to her long-standing fascination with surgery/cancer research.)
and sorry if this is OT, but it's one of my favourite stories about DD, so bear with me for a bit - y'all always understand and i'm so relieved for that. when DD was about 2, she asked me for a small album of photos of my father "so that she could remember him, too." she continues to ask me about him often, and routinely includes him in lists of her family - it's very interesting that in spite of his death, she has managed to build a relationship with him anyway - and that feels like such a gift.
and thanks all, for your stories and suggestions! they're all amazing and great.
