In the future, contact between people and animals is forbidden. Because interaction between people and animals leads to pain and suffering, eliminating contact has the highest priority. Eating animal meat--animeat--is a heinous crime and punished severely. Everyone is vegan. The Order of the Prelate teaches Noameran citizens to reject human dominion over the animal world. Christianity and other religious traditions that had empowered people to believe they could use animals for whatever purposes they chose have been disbanded. Pet ownership has also been banned. The hypocrisy that had allowed people to kill some animals for food while saving others to be loved as pets no longer exists. Welcome to the moral order of 22d century Noamera. When Will'm Ashbee violates this moral order, can a defense for his actions be found in the annals of human-animal interactions?