I want your view on this vegetarian topic?!
I want your view on this vegetarian topic?
I want to become vegetarian and my friend who is not vegetarian but is an animals right activist(eg. against real fur, etc) and she says that why should we become vegetarian as it's natural and other animals do it and the majority of animals are not killed cruelly.
I don't exactly agree with her because. You cannot tell if your meat has been killed cruelly or not, animals who are killed aren't living in a normal environment plus why kill more animals when you don't have to?
What are your views on this?
Only answer if you are vegetarian or are an aspiring vegetarian.
Answers:
Animals are killed cruelly that are used for food. It's the nature of the industry. People who claim otherwise either are ignorant to the facts, or are in denial. I'm guessing your friend is in the former category. That's fine. I suggest you head over to http://animal-law.org with her and watch the slide shows on this site. It will give you some good info.
Wile people can argue all day whether some animals are raised in conditions that are not cruel (the free range scam, for example), what is not open for debate is the fact that animal use for food, clothing, entertainment, or sport is totally unnecessary.
There is an inherent contradiction is the opposition of fur when the person still eats animal products (including dairy, or eggs) or wears animal clothing in any form, or uses animals for entertainment. All these things are unnecessary, all are wrong. to despise one yet support the other makes one a hypocrite..
Source(s):
Vegan in support of abolition of animal slavery
http://veganfreak.net (Great podcast)
http://animal-law.org (abolitionist theory of animal rights)
Im a pescetarian, i eta fish but not meat.
Well, as long as you buy free range meat, the animals are kept nicely, and are treated well. However, theya re still killed,a nd put on your plate.
Yes, i agree that it is nature for animals to eat other animals in the wild, eg lions. However, humans do not need meat as part of their diet, we just need protein and iron, which is in meat, but alos lots of other products.
The human body can digest meat, but it can also digest cardboard, so it is not to do woth thos. Our teeth are designed as omnivores.
I personally think that it is ok for people to eat meat who really enjoy it, as long as it is
a) free range
b) only a few times a week
and c) every part of hte animal possible is used, so that it saves killing loads more.
I dont eat meat beacuse i would find it very hard to cut down on meat and to only eat free range, because when im out, i will just not think about it and presume its free range. So i just dont eat meat...i dont like it much anyway, so i dont fel it is fair to keep eating it. I dont think everyone should be vegy...
If you ran an organic farm, and you still wanted milk, etc then you would have to eat meat, otherwise you would just have too many animals (male)...its hard to explain. If you want more info i will write it in comments.
Its up to you, but i feel like a better person as avegy. Nothing has died to come onto my plate (i know ie at fish, ive only just become vegy and im cutting down) and i dont digest animl souls
We would never advocate the killing of a human on the grounds that it is natural and that other animls kill each other. Why should we justify the killing of an animal in this way?
We don't look to the animal world to advise us on any other moral issues, such as sex, child-rearing, incest, monogamy, etc. why should we model ourselves on them when it comes to meat eating?
Surely we possess something that sets us apart from animals. We are morally superior in some way. If this is not true then why would we keep a brain dead person alive when they clearly had no qualtiy of life? If we are claiming that life is precious we should include all life-human and animal.
xxx
i am not a vegetarian and never will be, however i think your request to get points of view only from veggies is not only very naieve but will only provide you with facts from one side of the debate, therefore how would you form an 'informed' opinion. one point that 'the blac' see answers, brings up is the way people waste lots of parts of any paticular animal. for instance, how many people eat the meat off a chicken then throw the carcasse which could make another perfectly acceptable meal, say, rissotto, for arguments sake. when i worked in the butchery dept of a large supermarket chain it was criminal the parts of the animal that were thrown out, partly because of the supermarkets target customer base, partly because we have been brainwash into eating 'healthier cuts' but mostly because people cant cook any more, most people wouldnt know what to do with this perfectly good meat if it was given to them for nothing.
It's easy to know if an animal has been killed cruelly or not. If it's on your plate, it's been killed cruelly.
You're right that animals which are farmed for their meat are usually kept in horrific conditions. Battery hens are stuffed into cages, their feet often fusing to the metal bars as they are unable to move. Dairy cows are pumped full of steroids and their male calves killed in front of them (they're no use to a dairy farmer). Pigs are kept in pens so small that they can't even turn around.
Don't be deceived by "free range" in terms of meat or eggs. The government stipulations for being able to label a product "free range" are laughable.
If you truly love animals and want to do something good for this world, try not to eat them. I've been vegetarian for almost 10 years now. I'd recommend it to anyone who cares about other living beings.
I'm sorry i'm not a vegetarian but if only "vego's" answer you'll get a one sided answer and it'll be " animals are people too"
first i'm not an idiot who loves to kill things for fun then cook them on an open fire
second if we weren't suposed to eat cows they would have devolped thumbs invented guns and started eating us.
i agree with your friend except that shes againest fur. Fur comes off dead animas. We should just eat the animals that we get fur off.
first and foremost, you have to know the reason(s) for your choice to become vegetarian. Religion? health? animal rights?
I think your friend's reasoning is flawed: if fur is obtained from animal(s) that are not killed cruelly, would she still refuse?
"It's natural" - Not at all. what are our staples? Rice, wheat, potatoes. Aren't all these plants? Besides, A check with dietians will tell us that our nutrients can be obtained from plants alone. ie we do not need to feed on animal to survive.
"Other animals do it" - not ALL animals eat meat. cattles, and many fishes can survive on plants alone.
"Majority of animals are not killed cruelly" - All killings are cruel. Have you ever seen a chicken or fish that will not try to escape from the slaughter knife? Have you ever seen a cow that goes up to you willingly to be scarifised to satisfy our desire? Even if there is not cruel in killing, have you seen the living conditions of the animal? calves are chained up, prevented from moving to keep their meat tender.
I turned vegetarian mainly because of religion reasons - because we do not avocate killings. but later, i realised that it is also beneficial to health.
Get hold of the DVD "Earthlings", narrated by Joaquin Phoenix (I think the website is www.isawearthlings.com) and watch it with your friend. Then you can both decide.
Go with your gut. If you feel wrong about eating meat, don't eat it. Just make sure that you read up on and follow a healthy vegetarian diet. It is absolutely possible to get all the nutrients that you need to be healthy from a vegetarian diet and there are many studies proving that it is a better diet.
Truth is, in my 13 years of vegetarianism, I have never heard a argument for eating meat that ever made me consider going back. And just so you know, I did love meat growing up, I just started to feel wrong about it in my teens.
Just definitely watch Earthlings with your friend so that she gets some perspective on the issue. The friends I've shown it to have never been the same since and they have borrowed my copy and shown it to their friends, it's disturbing but very eye-opening.
Watch and decide for yourself
http://meat.org/
I have been happily vegan for a year and a half.
Your body does not require any animal products to function properly. Therefore anytime an animal is killed or enslaved to produce food for humans, it is unnecessarily cruel.
The problem with "humane meat" is that the animal still dies. Actually, more animals die because people buy more meat when they feel less guilty about eating it if they are told that the animal was raised and killed "humanely." These animals are KILLED! That is hardly humane.
As sentient beings, animals have an innate right, just like you, to live without being used as a resource. They have an interest in living, not just living with less suffering.
For the record, you cannot take animal rights seriously if you are not a vegan. If you are continuing to consume animal products, you are contributing to the problem and fighting against that which you claim to believe in. The abolition of animal use and abuse must begin in your own life!
There is one word for your friend - HYPOCRITE. Killing is killing - there's no such thing as humane killing.
It's possible to be a vegetarian but not an animal rights activist. But the reverse is simply impossible. Avoiding meat is one of the FIRST steps in becoming an animal rights activist. Animal rights extend to cows, pigs and chickens, not just cats and dogs.
It's funny when you hear about someone, like your friend, that is sooo against the killing of an animal for its fur, but thinks it is fine to kill and animal for it's meat. It is very hypocritical.
If you are eating meat, then chances are that the animal it was from was killed in a cruel way, and not only died in an awful way, but also lived it's life being basically tortured. Horrible existence don't you think? To be born into imprisonment, and subjected to a life of abuse and captivity, only then to be killed in awful ways. The money hungry meat and dairy industry, don't treat some animals better than others, they all get the same rotten life. So, yeah if you are eating it, it was killed in a cruel way.
I think your friend needs a wake up call. Have her check out this link=MOST animals ARE treated in cruel, inhumane manner, except for perhaps smaller, less marketed meats. Lots of good info here
http://www.factoryfarming.com/index.htm...
she seems kind of like a hypocrit, either your are for the animals or not simple as that,
I have to disagree with your friend. How do you kill an animal "un-cruely"?? You're killing it. No matter how you do it, it's pretty cruel. Not only that, but where did your friend get her info as to how animals are killed? The meat industry has horrendously cruel ways of doing it and it will only get worse as things become more technologically advanced (ie. when there's nobody standing there to kill the cow who ended up on the conveyor belt still alive). It's just as cruel as the fur industry. And you're right... just the conditions they're forced to live in BEFORE they're killed is enough to make me stop eating meat.
First of all, yes animals eat animals
but we are humans, we have no right to eat animals because there are so many other options out there such as vegetables.
Most animals are raised cruelly, and you can never be sure that organic meat it totally cruelty free, after all, breeding and raising animals then killing them is nothing but cruel.
We take animals for granted way too much, my friends always say "well animals are made for us"
no they are not, because afterall yes it is pointless to kill animals, at the end of the day its going to end up in the sewers.
Meat is murder, animals are living things, they have organs just like humans, they have hormones just like humans, only difference is, they some in different shapes and sizes and cannot speak the way we communicate.
Since this is the case, we might as well genetically breed humans, cramp them in cages and then kill them, because there was a documentary on tv a few years ago, and it said human meat tastes like bacon.
Here are some videos on how animals are raised, in disgusting conditions and stressful ways.
not killed cruelly????
being killed is not cruel enough?
they don't want to die, the strongest desire in any thinking being is to live.
anyways, watch fast food nation, and apply what you see to everywhere you go and it's the same as it's in the movie, as it is in the real world.
Well I hate to tell you this but your friend is dead wrong. The way animals are raised on factory farms today is very cruel, many never even get to see the sun. To learn more about animal cruelty check out this site: http://www.goveg.com/factoryfarming.asp...
Explore the site and be horrified. It really is appalling.
And P. S I am a vegetarian. If you want to read about how to transition into vegetarianism try this site www.veggie123.com
the free ebook really helped me when I was transitioning.
Good lick, and I hope I answered your questions...
Unless she is only eating organic farm raised meats, then she is likely wrong. They have some "meatrix" videos on the PETA sight that show some of what happens in factory farms. While I don't think it's neccesarily "unnatural" to eat meat, I think one of the special things about humans is our ability to exceed our "animal" nature. A careless vegetarian or vegan can hurt themselves when they give up the nutrients in meat, but a well educated one will be just as healthy as anyone else, if not healthier. And so, though it may be in our nature to eat meat, since we have the resources to rise above that, it's special. After all, it's in our nature to make as many babies with as many different people as possible to help the gene pool, but (some) humans have gone against that to have monogamous relationships. So really, I guess that's what vegetarians are like, the married people of the dietary relationships.
What puzzles me most is that your friend thinks she is an animal rights activist while enslaving and killing animals. What rights exactly does she advocate for? Merely the right not to be worn as fur? Do you/does she think animals are more adverse to their death if they are used for fur rather than for food? You need to think about what it means to be an animal rights activist. True believers in animal rights seek to abolish animals as the property of humans. This means not using animals for food, clothing, or entertainment. It means not breeding domestic animals (as companions or other) even if they are the last two animals on earth. Until your friend is a vegan, she is not an animal rights activist.
You should not only become vegetarian right away, but begin to take steps towards veganism. Visit www.veganstarterpack.com or www.tryveg.com for more information.
For reading on true animal rights, read "Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog?" by Gary Francione.