animal ethics / rights?

Question

is it ok to eat animals who have been raised in horrid, extremely overpopulated and confined conditions, pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics, fed genetically engineered diets, and live short, miserable lives? i’m a meat eater, but the animals i eat otherwise lived rich and full lives, as best a life as they could ask considering i’ve named them “dinner.” but the meat you buy at the grocery store isn’t from happy and healthy animals. does that bother you? you do know that those animals aren’t really that good for you? why buy the meat? it’s contaminated, as far as i’m concerned. just google “factory farm”, disturbing.

Dr Y: i have my own chickens and can easily explain your lame “experiments”. chickens are social animals, quite simple. they prefer to be together, but that doesn’t justify cramping them into overly tight quarters. they deserve to live in a space in which they can spread their wings and not have to stand on wire cage floors their ENTIRE LIVES. have you ever seen one of those trucks roll through?? half the birds are dead already and the rest look sick and i certainly don’t want to eat them. as you can see, it has nothing to do with personalizing them, thanks. enjoy your kfc, though.

ducky: if i could show you the animals i eat, versus the animals you eat, you'd have little to say. it's obvious

art: thank you for your rant. i agree in part, and disagree in part. i certainly maintain that there is, in fact, a difference. i do believe that how the animal lives should matter

Answer 1

if people were forced to live a subsistence life, you would find that many people in today's society are unable to kill, clean, and cook their own game and would be vegetarians.

animals that are wild are healthier for many reasons, however with the populations need/desire for fresh meat we have a massive meat packing industry. we have evolved (or devolved) from a subsistence economy to a consumer economy.

i always buy free range meats. it's tough to shoot cows and pigs in the wild, but there are plenty of deer and turkeys here in MD.

for those who haven't read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair get a copy from the library and give it a read.

in short, why should we care about the needs/feelings of an animal here in the US? We don't care about each other as people let alone some domestic beast that I can't send a text message to or IM.

Answer 2

When people talk about being good or bad to animals, many of them make a very understandable mistake. They anthropomorphize them. A person says, "I wouldn't want to be in a room just large enough to hold myself and ten other people, so an animal wouldn't either." This is often a very poor application of reasoning, however.

Take chickens, for example. I've seen some very interesting experiments done with chicks to find out what, exactly, chicks DO like in terms of living space. In one experiment, for example, a two-part cage was built - in one compartment were a half-dozen chicks packed close together and in the other was a single chick with a vast amount of space. The single chick could go anywhere it wanted in that vast space, but it always stayed right next to the other compartment full of chicks. Experimentors even put a conveyor belt that would pull the lone chick away in an effort to measure its resolve to stay near the others, and found that there was NO amount of effort it was not willing to expend to be right next to all the other chicks. The conclusion should be obvious. Putting chicks in a bigger space is a waste of space.

And let me point out something else here: there is a REASON why scientists are even interested in finding out what animals want. That reason is that most animals are actually healthier and more productive when they are happy. Many (including chickens) become completely infertile when they're stressed out. Thus, no matter what you may think about animal conditions and people who raise them, they really DO want to make sure the animals are as happy as possible.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that everything that every meat producer does fits in with this model. Just be careful before you jump to any conclusions. Some animals prefer things you and I would find appalling. And some hate things you and I would think are basic necessities.

If such things are true for even different members of the human species, think how much MORE true it much be for completely different species altogether!

You are free, of course, to completely disbelieve the results if you like. You can even disbelieve all of science if you like. I find it amusing that although many people do disbelieve, not one refrains from using the products of scientific progress.

Answer 3

The thing that has always fascinated me with meat eaters is the desire to eat only certain meats. What makes a certain meat acceptable and others not acceptable? How is a cow living a "good life" more dinner-appropriate that one who lived a "poor life?" How is a chicken made to live in a tiny little cage worse than the chicken whose beak is cut off and allowed to "roam around?"

The fact is, we humans are not meant to eat meat DESPITE what any meat eater will have you believe. We do not have fangs. We do not have teeth that were to designed to tear the flesh of an animal away from its bone. Our stomachs do not process meat efficiently. In fact, in order to send the meat through our system, one needs to add grains, vegetables, and fruits. By not adding these things, expect diseases like colon cancer.

How an animal is treated BEFORE its throat is slit is no reason to slit its throat to begin with. That animal should not be here to calm your blood thirst. No animal should give its life just to satisfy your appetite.

And what animal is proper for dinner? A chicken? A Cow? A fish? A horse? A monkey? A Cockroach? A SLUG? How about a human fetus? Where does it end?

When you eat from an animal that animal DIES.
When you eat from a plant, that plant continues to live. I mean, pluck an apple from a tree and eat it. The tree keeps living. Rip off a turkey leg and eat it, and guess what, you're a murderer. Simple as that.

Answer 4

no, I don't think it is fair... I don't really want anyone or anything dying for me, so I just don't eat a lot of meat. It's strange though how the law admits this kind of cruelty and condemns other small things like stealing bread or something... I don't consider my being a vegetarian (almost, sometimes my parents force me :) some form of protest, because I know that no one cared if I eat their meat or not; there are plenty of other people to do that for me. But it's at least a little more comforting to the soul than doing nothing, right? Anyway, I don't even like meat, so it's not such a big sacrifice for me...
I don't think the conditions these animals live in will improve in any way... not any time soon...

Answer 5

Several years ago I observed very crowded conditions at a feed yard in California. It was located on the bottom of the grapevine, next to a "famous" restaurant that served steaks. The pungent smell sickened me, I stopped eating meat for six months. My resolve waned and I started eating meat again. I guess that makes me a very weak person. After reading your question I will try again.

Answer 6

the two are completed for a particular purpose finding on the breed. Tails are docked to dodge injuries in working breeds with skinny whip like tails and herding canines bred to herd livestock to dodge tail injuries in the comb or from being stepped on. secure practices breeds are docked to do away with a hand-carry for may well be human attackers. maximum of those breeds have clearly ingredient whip-like tails that are services to injury even in a puppy important different and infants. Tails are additionally docked at 2-3 days of age and a breeder has no theory at that age what domestic canines are potential working canines. Ears are additionally cropped for a particular reason finding on the breed. Breeds bred as seize canines (looking wild boar or different tusked/horned activity) may well be services to having floppy ears torn. With secure practices breeds the cropping returned removes a handhold for may well be human attackers, the erect ear is likewise plenty greater suitable waiting to pinpoint sound than the floppy ear. (interior of 5 tiers as unfavourable to interior of 20 tiers). Continental herding breeds inclusive of Bouvier and Beacueron are bred not just to herd yet to guard the flock so pinpointing sound is likewise important in those breeds. as some distance because of the fact the individuals who've pronounced we could constantly supply up messing with "mom nature" we already have. Human intervention is what has resulted in floppy ears in the 1st place. The organic state of the ears is erect very nearly all wild animals with exterior ears have erect ears with very few exceptions. there is not something organic a pair of dogs having floppy ears that's a consequence of human intervention by using selective breeding straightforward and straightforward.

Answer 7

I've been a vegetarian almost all my life. I wish the human animal would progress beyond its "carnivorous animal" nature and not eat other animals, at all. Animals suffer and feel fear and pain as we do. There's just no reason why they should have to.

Answer 8

Ha-ha
How can You tell when animals have lived "rich and full lives, as best a life as they could ask.."
Do you.. ahem.. Talk to the Animals ?

Answer 9

Although I agree with you 100%, this sounds more like preaching then a question. That's not what this website is for.

Answer 10

animals are delicious and I don't care if they had a proper upbringing, just a proper marinating