Indeed, that's kind of the point.
On the topics of pigs, dogs, and pets; most people don't realize how intelligent and affectionate cows are. Dairy farmers often love their cows more than their dogs. And the farmers that have dairy cows and other cows have this mental barrier where one group is food and the other is family. I bet most people that have eaten a hamburger have never pet a cow.
This is not some meat-is-murder tirade - I'm not even vegetarian. It's just neat to think about the assumptions that construct our worldview.
Given that most Americans have definitely never pet a cow, and I'd go as far as to propose most have probably never even seen a cow in person, that's probably a very safe wager. But what percent of people that have pet a cow, would you wager also do eat beef?
I've never considered the possibility of someone never ever having seen a damn cow.
I don't know if people are more crazy or more horrible. But whenever I see moral grandstanding on HN it always reminds me of experiences in SV and Seattle watching peers step over or ignore homeless, distressed human beings by day and do the same kind of moral grandstanding over drinks at night.