In answer to your other suggestion that you would like the animals not to suffer before dying - I understand this perspective in a way, because my boyfriend felt the same way for a while and is still thinking about it.
But ask yourself these questios:
Isn't it suffering in and of itself to slaughter an animal and to slaughter that animal way before its time? (Slaughter right now for any animals is not painless. Organic and free-range animals often travel to the same slaughterhouses as other animals, often in the same sorts of unsafe/harmful trucks. I think there are some farmers who may kill their animals on-site, but that is few and far between, and even then, I think the animals probably know what's up, a form of suffering in itself. Also, ask yourself - would it be cruel and cause suffering for someone to kill their pet dog and eat it for Thanksgiving? If that is wrong, than why is it right to kill a pig?)
Also, here are two examples of how suffering and the animal agriculture industry are hand in hand:
Eggs - half of the chicks are killed at the hatchery, because the males and females are bred differently for eggs and meat. So you have half of the chicks being gased (the kindest way), suffocated in plastic bags or run through a woodchipper alive (this was found to be a standard industry practice in a recent California court case, hence, not "cruel") No matter what kind of eggs you're eating, the hens came from these hatcheries, with these cruel practices. And as April said, free-range means basically nothing. You pretty much have to research individual farms to determine a decent source of eggs - see Singer's book. Even so, the hens will be killed when they've stopped laying "enough".
Milk - No matter what dairy you're at, anywhere, the baby calf is taken away from its mother almost immediately so that humans can get all the milk. Not only is that weird and unnatural (to be drinking the milk meant for another species and separating a mother and child), but it's cruel. Cows actually bellow for their calves and miss them. And the calves are either taken for milk (if female) or VEAL (if male). And we all know about veal. Veal production might not even exist except for the dairy industry. It's a way of maximizing profits. The other male calves are simply killed. So dairy pretty much packs suffering in right up front.
I'm not trying to judge you, but just prodding you to think about some of these complications.
For me it comes down to - is it really NECESSARY, as in do I absolutely NEED to eat foods that cause pain, suffering and death to other beings that have recognizable feelings? If I don't NEED these foods, I must just WANT them. And is a want for a different food that I'm used to or prefer really equal to these animals' greater need to live and to experience some modicum of freedom and dignity?
To my mind, if you really can't divorce yourself from animal products, then by all means seek out more humane sources, but I would question whether there are really more than a handful of people out of every 1,000 people who could find no way to live healthily without any animal products. I would also question whether it would really be impossible for any but a few to really enjoy eating without animal products. And if we can live healthily and enjoy food without causing harm to other living creatures, who are no different than a cat or a dog or any other animal we see and love, than why shouldn't we? What in the world should stop us?
Alright. I'm done. Hope I haven't driven you over the wall.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-11-28 10:07 pm (UTC)But ask yourself these questios:
Isn't it suffering in and of itself to slaughter an animal and to slaughter that animal way before its time? (Slaughter right now for any animals is not painless. Organic and free-range animals often travel to the same slaughterhouses as other animals, often in the same sorts of unsafe/harmful trucks. I think there are some farmers who may kill their animals on-site, but that is few and far between, and even then, I think the animals probably know what's up, a form of suffering in itself. Also, ask yourself - would it be cruel and cause suffering for someone to kill their pet dog and eat it for Thanksgiving? If that is wrong, than why is it right to kill a pig?)
Also, here are two examples of how suffering and the animal agriculture industry are hand in hand:
Eggs - half of the chicks are killed at the hatchery, because the males and females are bred differently for eggs and meat. So you have half of the chicks being gased (the kindest way), suffocated in plastic bags or run through a woodchipper alive (this was found to be a standard industry practice in a recent California court case, hence, not "cruel") No matter what kind of eggs you're eating, the hens came from these hatcheries, with these cruel practices. And as April said, free-range means basically nothing. You pretty much have to research individual farms to determine a decent source of eggs - see Singer's book. Even so, the hens will be killed when they've stopped laying "enough".
Milk - No matter what dairy you're at, anywhere, the baby calf is taken away from its mother almost immediately so that humans can get all the milk. Not only is that weird and unnatural (to be drinking the milk meant for another species and separating a mother and child), but it's cruel. Cows actually bellow for their calves and miss them. And the calves are either taken for milk (if female) or VEAL (if male). And we all know about veal. Veal production might not even exist except for the dairy industry. It's a way of maximizing profits. The other male calves are simply killed. So dairy pretty much packs suffering in right up front.
I'm not trying to judge you, but just prodding you to think about some of these complications.
For me it comes down to - is it really NECESSARY, as in do I absolutely NEED to eat foods that cause pain, suffering and death to other beings that have recognizable feelings? If I don't NEED these foods, I must just WANT them. And is a want for a different food that I'm used to or prefer really equal to these animals' greater need to live and to experience some modicum of freedom and dignity?
To my mind, if you really can't divorce yourself from animal products, then by all means seek out more humane sources, but I would question whether there are really more than a handful of people out of every 1,000 people who could find no way to live healthily without any animal products. I would also question whether it would really be impossible for any but a few to really enjoy eating without animal products. And if we can live healthily and enjoy food without causing harm to other living creatures, who are no different than a cat or a dog or any other animal we see and love, than why shouldn't we? What in the world should stop us?
Alright. I'm done. Hope I haven't driven you over the wall.