There are many indigenous cultures (with some hunters still around today) who ask forgiveness upon killing food animals. And history’s full of bear cults, and animal species with names that translate into “people of the _,” and taboos on harming various animals. I think the notion that humans have mostly only cared for the concerns of humans is the product of an industrial-age blind spot: only people who’ve never hunted or husbanded, and eat their meat from the slaughterhouse, have never thought about animal welfare.
There are many indigenous cultures (with some hunters still around today) who ask forgiveness upon killing food animals. And history’s full of bear cults, and animal species with names that translate into “people of the _,” and taboos on harming various animals. I think the notion that humans have mostly only cared for the concerns of humans is the product of an industrial-age blind spot: only people who’ve never hunted or husbanded, and eat their meat from the slaughterhouse, have never thought about animal welfare.