RE:
But most children love animals, so the second direction could arguably be unlikely...
Not unlikely, quite the oppposite...
Anyone remember "Marcus the school sheep" ?
The kids at the school raised him and then decided to send him off to slaughter to be turned into meat rather than keep him as a pet...
I have heard about this at other schools too, with the kids deciding on tasty meat over the animals life. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6834052.ece
Looks to me like the children only wanted the lamb killed so the meat would raise money for the school to get more animals. They just liked the idea of having more animals to care for. Most kids adore animals - which brings me to this quote:
"You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car." ~Harvey Diamond, Author, co-author, Fit for Life
