Compassionate 3-year-old becomes YouTube star

Luiz is only three years old but he has made up his mind that he is not going to eat anything (or rather, anyone) with a head. In the last couple of days, he's become an internet sensation, with over a million views on YouTube.

There comes a time in every child's life when they realise that meat used to be an animal. I remember the day my little sister realised that 'pig' and 'pork' were one and the same. She put down her fork and cried. I'm embarrassed to say that at the time I laughed at her and told her to eat her chops.

Now, it seems perfectly reasonable to me that she should have this reaction and I wish I could go back in time, give her a cuddle and make her a veggie burger. But at that age I had already learned to accept what society says is 'normal' and 'ok'.

Children don't just accept. Children ask questions. A lot of questions. All the time. The questions Luiz asks his mum are questions that I wish I'd asked earlier. It was only years later, that I realised, like Luiz, I wanted animals to 'stay standing up'.

When did you first make the connection between meat and the animals it came from? How did you react?

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