Words are never neutral. They shape how we think and how we see the world around us. When it comes to our animal cousins, language doesn’t just describe their reality, it creates it.
Using terms like “livestock” or even “it” when talking about animals distances us from the individual and their experiences. Industry-specific language – like “poultry” “racehorse” or “test subject” – is used deliberately to obscure practices that most people would find abhorrent.
This is especially true for animals exploited by the farming industry, who rely on euphemisms like “processing” and “harvesting” to conceal the violence of slaughter. In laboratories, animals may be referred to as “models” reducing them to research tools or lab equipment. The language of racing is equally troubling, with terms like “retirement” and “athletes” used to mask the systemic exploitation of horses.
By examining how language is used across these industries, we can better understand how words have shaped our relationship with animals for millennia – and importantly how language may be the first step toward changing those relationships for the better.
The articles below shed more light on why the language we use matters.
