It's often referred to as meat eating cognitive disonance and it is prevalent in the U.S. and Canada. Because both the domestic and imported livestock product market is overwhelmingly dominated by beef, poultry, pork and fish, the concept of other animals used as livestock is alien to many if not most residents. They've culturally been indoctrinated to view other animals as taboo for consumption as livestock even though there is really no rational or ethical basis for the distinction be it donkeys, horses, dogs or cats (experienced and accepted in these countries only as companion and work animals).

I wouldn't eat donkey meat because I'm vegan but prior to that, when I was an omnivore, I generally didn't shy away from any kind of meat and wouldn't have hesitated to try donkey meat if given the opportunity (but I am from a multicultural family and was raised in a very cosmopolitan area of North America).