A Case of Cognitive Dissonance

My little Valentine, enjoying a snack.

As anyone who knows me well (or even not so well) would know, I love parrots. Right now I have my little cockatiel, Valentine, but I do plan on owning a few more birds once I get my own place. Just like my parents are "greyhound people", I am a "bird person". I really do love them, my favorites being 'toos and 'tiels, though I appreciate all parrots. As I said, I am very fond of them.
However, there is one thing about the "parront" community that continues to perplex me, and this is the bird-eating bird owner. If you've ever seen a parrot who's plucked his or her feathers out, you know how much they look like a chicken, or a turkey, or a duck, or any other "food" bird. So, my honest question is: how do you eat birds if you also love them?

I suppose this question is similar to the one you would ask the farmer back in the day - how do you eat an animal that you have loved, cared for, and adored over the years? Or even now, how do you eat a pig after you've read "Charlotte's Web"? It is interesting, questionable, and perplexing to me, the separation our minds create between "animals" and "food", even when they are the same thing. As my mother would say - "flesh is flesh". If you wouldn't eat your dog, your cat, or a parrot...why would you eat a cow, a rabbit, or a chicken? And an even more odd situation, is those who fight for the rights of animals, and yet they continue their lives as omnivores. Why do you deem the "pet" as a family member, and the others as food?
It's all very interesting, and very odd, and a whole other list of words that could go on for days, and days, and days. Vegans seem to have a broader view of what compassion is, in many cases. We see not only people as worthy of love and respect, and not only pet animals deserving of love and respect, but we also see all the others, including "food animals" (who many deem to be the lowest of the low), worthy of love and respect. I understand that a lot of it is more than likely the lack of contact we make with these other species. But, these days, with more and more "farm sanctuaries" popping up, including the literal "Farm Sanctuary" in California and New York State, it is becoming easier and easier to meet these animals up-close and personal.
So, I do have to ask, to all of the meat eaters reading this - what are your thoughts on this? I am not trying to be derogatory, I am trying to be honest. So yes, this is a real question. What are your thoughts?
Leave them in the comments below, please.
Vegan is the way