Why claim that killing an animal for food is inhumane?

Question

I seriously do not understand this. I can understand everything about not torturing or starving animals or killing them ONLY for their fur or leather but why the killing of animals for meat. I have hear a great deal of bs concerning this topic like how our systems are designed for fruit and vegetables and we only eat meat because of either the taste or brainwashing (this claim is usually givin authority with claims that it was said by health profesionals which I doubt because anyone with a basic understanding of biology would look at our teeth and realize it isn't true) or that not eating meat is healthier but that still doesn't explain the claims of inhumanity.

I seriously wish to understand your viewpoint and am not trying to open you up for flames insults or any other form of harassment.

YES FINALY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEIR TALKING ABOUT!! I'm not sure why you put in that argument against arguments that animals don't get depressed. I've been around cats and dogs long enough to know they do. Oh and Jessica Our teeth might not look like a wolf's but they don't look like a cows either. The enamel on a herbivores teeth is a great deal thicker than an omnivores of comparable size.

Anyways what brought this up was the article about the dolphin hunt that the heroes actress tried to stop and the endless stream of comments about ALL methods for killing an animal for food were inhumane. And hunting was specificaly mentioned in a number of them.

You know you are right we are the only creatures on this planet able to reason and the question is entirely about your reasoning for going vegan or vegetarian. Now to tell me that I am not thinking because I can not shift my thinking enough to understand the decisions behind your reasoning is not evidence that I am not thinking. I do not have to background or the information you have which led you to giving up meat. Do NOT expect me to be able to simply think for a while and be able to divine the answers with only half of the equation.

Answer 1

Well, for the teeth statement...we don't only have incisors, but grinding molars as well. Meaning we are supposed to eat vegetation, as well. We're omnivores. We eat both. It's just a choice, since humans can live fine without meat. What's inhumane about eating animals is that most of the comercialy available meat is from animals that live in extremely poor conditions, that are alot like the nazi concentration camps if you think about it. Animals do feel pain, and they DO get depressed (please don't tell me otherwise, I've been working at a veterinary clinic for well over 2 years...I've seen enough cases to tell you that animals do get depressed, therefore have emotions, in some sense. Depression is a commonly used, OFFICIAL term for veterinary care.)

I have no problem for people who go out and kill their own meat. Kudos to them. I'd like to meet these "Only meant for vegetables" spewing peeps, 'cause that really is rediculous, I'll give you that. Point is we're omnivores, and we can survive on plants, if we have the right nutrients. Meat is in our diet too, but not necesary.

Answer 2

We are omnivores, which means we can choose. Watch this video http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=meet_your_meat and you might understand the inhumanity viewpoint a little more. People should be aware of where their food comes from and the processes to get it to the grocery store. For me, I would not go out in my yard and kill a chicken, so I don't eat it. If a person has no problem killing their own food then fine, but killing a deer in the woods is a lot different than what chickens or pigs go through in large farms. A meat eater could buy from smaller farms that treat animals more humanely than large factory farms do. This site lists some http://www.localharvest.org/. I live out in the country and there is a dairy farm nearby where the cows never get out of their stalls. They don't ever get to walk in a pasture. To me, there's no question, that is cruel.

Answer 3

I don't like the idea of killing animals.

It's not necessary to eat animals.

So I don't eat meat.

That's it.

I work for an agency that provides services mentally retarded and developmentally disabled people. I also work on the side with helping people get Social Security Disability, and I don't take any money for that. Anyone who says vegetarians don't care anything for people doesn't know what he's talking about.

Answer 4

well if u dont agree with torturing and starving animals for leather or fur, then why would u be all for torturing and starving animals just so u could eat them. because food animals are treated like crap, and a lot of vegans oppose meat eating because of the methods in which the animals are kept and killed. and since ur talking about "basic biology" the newest studies conducted by people who know more about biology then u could even fathom have shown that the only animals our bodies are designed to consume are some fish and shellfish. its not only about looking at our teeth, if u knew what u were talking about then u should know that. i still dont agree with eating shellfish or fish because the way they are harvested completely f***s up the ocean. the first two sentences of ur question basically say its ok to abuse animals if its for food but not for leather or fur. its not okay to abuse them at all, and make no mistake, food animals are treated like they arent even alive.

Answer 5

First, I'm not certain of our body's 'need' for meat, considering 1. Homo sapiens' reduced dentition, especially in the canines and molars and 2. the comparative lack of meat sources in great ape groups. If anything, we should probably be eating insects, since ant-fishing seems to be the most active meat source for chimpanzees and bonobos. Today's domesticates are recent - maybe for the past 6-8000 years - and have far more fat than naturally roaming animals, plus the addition of synthetic hormones and antibiotics. Those are not what our biology is best suited for. No animal is suited to eating fat-laden, hormone-laden food.

But, let's ignore that issue.

I think that meat production, as it is today, is inhumane. Animals have nervous systems; they obviously feel pain, as anyone who's had to take a pet to a veterinarian can attest to. So beak burning, forcible feeding, and battery cages which cause broken bones, to me, are causing suffering where there is no need for it. Causing suffering to anything for one's own pleasure is inhumane.

My logic extends to other meat industries, as well. I don't believe in docking pigs' tails. I don't believe in the veal industry's practice of tying down the animals. It's just not something I would like to support with my money.

But, for me, my primary reason for vegetarianism has to do with the fact that the meat industry is environmentally destructive, and the grain used to feed animals could be put to use feeding people in countries that aren't quite as wealthy as Western nations.

Answer 6

i dont eat meat because i fully truly believe that killing animals for food is wrong we can survive without meat its not a necesity to live we can get protein from other stuff and no one is going to change that look at a cows face do you think its right that its only destiny is dying? chickens cows pigs and all other animals killled for our pleasure in eating them disgusts me i also want to thank you for not hating us most people who eat meat make fun of us and mock us for what we believe but i learned to ignore them and go on with my life :)

Answer 7

If you like puppy mills, you'll love factory farms.
The modern beef, pork & poultry industries *need* to treat animals like unfeeling commodities in order to turn a profit. The animals destined to be food are treated inhumanely for their entire lives-- often kept in cramped quarters, denied the opportunity to run, play or bask in the sunshine, fed things they wouldn't normally eat etc. The females used for breeding are nearly always artifically inseminated, forced to have one litter after another until their bodies give out (then it's off to slaughter for these gals, too) & in the case of dairy cows their babies are removed almost immediately. It is difficult to deny that the maternal inclination runs deep in most species.
Natural preditors like tigers generally give their prey a few minutes of fear & pain after a lifetime of living free, unlike the nonstop misery of a "food" animal.

Answer 8

You know what the only difference is between those animals you and others eat and us is? We are born with the abiltity to reason. That's it. We have the ability to reason..and make choices based on our reasoning. We don't rely solely on insticts...alot of the time we still do we are an animal after all... but we have the abilty to weigh our choices..do we go on insticts alone..or do we include other factors into our choice. We are classified as animals too...humans aren't in their own catagory now are we? Biology..yes we have incisors...but who's to say that they aren't just for tearing apart hard organic matter..like carrots,potatoes, or any other plant that produces hard fruits or veggies? AND even if it is to tear through flesh...we have evolved from the caveman years right? We no longer have to depend on animal flesh to survive...MAYBE we did..I wasn't there in caveman times to say for sure...BUT we have evolved from those times right? I no longer need to eat animal flesh to survive...so I will use that reasoning power I have to reason that I won't eat it.. as for the many other people...they have the same reasoning I have...they just like the "old ways" so have at it..eat your dead animals...And I will do the same with my plants.
Each their own....but please don't act like you have no idea why we consider it inhumane to kill animals...all you have to do is think..and not too hard to figure that one out dear.

Answer 9

I have never met a predatory beast that would have any qualms about eating me.

In fact, a large portion of my life's energy goes into fighting bacteria and viruses that are involved in trying to eat me daily.

I'll get PC after they get PC.

(Brilliant bumper sticker: "Plants and animals are our friends. Don't eat them.")

Answer 10

Killing another animal for food when you're a carnivore is not inhumane. They also don't purposely keep their food captive, breed it, and raise it in cruel conditions.

Regarding the "we're supposed to eat meat": for the 543987345845th time...
Your "canines" look nothing like a carnivore's. You can't run fast enough to catch your food. You don't have the nails or teeth to kill it and tear it apart. You can't eat it raw or you get sick. ... *yawn* ...Your jaw does not move only vertically like a carnivore's. Your intestinal tract is not short and straight. When you see roadkill you recoil, you don't run over and sniff it excitedly while salivating like a carnivore.....