The difference between a pet and lunch is the fact that someone has formed an emotional bond with the animal. I eat cows every day, but I wouldn't want to eat a pet cow without permission of the person who raised it, even though it would eventually grow old and die and be a total pain to bury (seriously, that's close to a ton of rotting flesh that needs to be put deep enough into the ground that scavengers won't dig it up).

In a world that's dominated by humans, what we believe and dream of is a powerful force. Not powerful enough to overrule the laws of physics, but powerful enough that we could denude this entire planet of life in a poorly-conceived attempt to.