Speciesism might not be a term you hear a lot, because sadly it is so normalized. Being a speciesist means that you make a difference between certain species of animals. For example dogs and pigs or other animals like cows or chickens. Speciesism is the discrimination between species, meaning you say you love animals but you also pay for the harm and murder of certain species. This is because of what society taught us to be normal. Love and protect a dog or a cat but pay for the murder or a cow.
For a lot of people a dog is a family member, they celebrate when that dog turns 6 months old. The same people view a pig as a product and think that it is morally justifiable to kill them when they turn 6 months old. The pig will be put into a gas chamber and then slaughtered, while a dog or a cat is protected from these actions by the law. Taking into consideration that they both feel pain and are sentient beings there's no moral difference, therefore they both deserve moral consideration.
Imagine how people would respond if a human got discriminated just because of the body they were born into. The same happens to these animals, yet we think it is okay to love one and eat the other because that is what we've been taught. The thing is there's no moral justification that would make it right. The bodies we are born into isn't something that we get to choose or something that is in our control. It is not morally justifiable to make a difference between a dog or cat and a cow or pig etc, the same way it is not justifiable to discriminate a human because of something out of their control.
People wouldn't say to a family grieving the loss of their dog that it is just a dog, yet when it comes to a different species people often tend to say it is just a pig. Yes, a pig who has the desire to live, play and experience the sunlight more than once in their lifetime. A ;pig who feels pain, suffering etc, the same way a dog or a cat does.
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