Luiz Antonio, 3, has already become an Internet sensation and a superstar among vegetarians all over the world thanks to a video in which he asks his mother why animals should be slaughtered for human consumption.
In the video, Antonio can be seen as he waits to eat a plate of octopus prepared by his mother. The boy then begins to question if the octopus is real and goes on to list all the animals that, in his opinion, should not be killed for food.
Once online, the video soon went viral through sites like Reddit, where it reached millions of users from around the world with vegan and vegetarian users debating the practices and sustainability of the meat industry worldwide.
"I hate that they die, I want them to stand up and be happy. We must care for these animals, not eat them," said Luiz Antonio in the video, prompting an emotional response from his mother who can not hold back the tears. Antonio's mother patiently sits through her son's questioning, eventually concedes her child's point and allows him to eat the non-animal derived products in his meal.
The video has sparked a debate once more about human consumption habits in a world that is quickly growing and where standards of living among developing nations are also rising. Countries like China and India that have large populations with increasing access to meat products have made for a sharp rise in the consumption of meat-based products around the globe. There is no exact estimate on how many animals humans consume annually, but the figure is at least in the billions.
Luiz Antionio's video has not only put the sustainability of meat consumption in the world into perspective, but it has also rocked the ethics and the morality of the issue among many people who claim to have been directly touched by the child's message.
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