To ask if you had to kill the animal yourself, would you still eat meat?

[WhatDoYouThink2017]

To ask if you had to kill the animal yourself, would you still eat meat?

It seems that a lot of people say no, but that does confuse me, as if less people ate meat, there would be a less of a demand.

This isn’t me saying eating meat is wrong btw, I absolutely believe there is a food chain, but the food chain is slightly unfair. Animals are bred and kept in awful conditions for their meat, etc. which is where I believe it’s unfair. Other people seem to agree.

So, if you could humanely keep your own animals and kill them, would you? Or would you go without meat?

When I think about it, the animals we have that my dad has killed were either wild animals, or they were kept humanly in lovely conditions. I might feel differently if we had a battery farm.

No, probably not.

Yes, I think I would.
I wouldn't befriend it, pet it, name it, or have it in the house so that I could - as farmers do - see the animals as different to pets - I couldn't kill my pets if it would save my own life. But I think I would because such is the natural order of things. And if I wouldn't then I think I'd have a real crisis of conscience about eating meat at all (and I'm a real committed carnivore!).

No I couldn't. And I know that's very hypocritical of me as I love eating meat, but I never associate the meat with the animal.

Yep. Have helped catch garden-roaming hens for dinner.

I didn't attempt the actual slaughter myself because it should be done quickly and competently, but I've held the bowl for the blood without a qualm.

I try to buy meat with higher welfare standards and don't eat meat every day.

Honestly - in part it would depend a lot on what method was available to kill it. If i could shoot it from a distance with a decent gun i might force myself. I could not wring anything's neck or be close enough to look into it's eyes. Bashing over the head or anything.

I already have a sort of policy of not eating anything 'cute'. Rabbit, deer, veal, ect. Pathetic, but there's my honest answer.

Yes, I could / would do it.

Depending: I wouldn't want to slit the throat of a cow or sheep or pig, but I could probably shoot it or electrocute it.

And I am also more concerned about welfare. We do at meat, but it has to be free-range / have welfare credentials.

I would hate to cause additional suffering through ineptitude.

This. Exactly.

For survival, yes I would kill an animal for food.
To make spag bol on a Wednesday, no I wouldn't kill an animal myself.

I understand there is a cost to eating meat which is greater than the finanical one but yes, I admit, I prefer someone else to do the killing for me.

Theoretically yes but only if I knew I could do it as a clean kill. I make myself deal with fish and pheasant from time to time so meat doesn't just come in neat little packages. So I would have to be confident about the welfare side.

Only for survival but I don't eat much meat and wouldn't find giving it up completely a big deal.

If there was no other food available then yes, but if it was just the law that to eat meat you had to slaughter it (but there was still all the other food available) then no. Probably makes me a total hypocrite but it's just so gory.

One of my exs family used to slaughter their own chickens (small village in the Middle East) and even though it was something he grew up with it was still upsetting for him (didn't stop him eating it though). The worst was when a rabbit family set up in his garden. He was so happy with all his new pets. His mum said that they would have to "give" some away as there were too many. Which he was fine with - until his Uncle picked one, snapped its neck and took it home for dinner. Poor kid cried for a week and got in trouble for not eating the rabbit stew his mum made.

Yes. However, I would rather pay someone to do it humanely. We do eat meat regularly, but I prefer to make it stretch several days (a chicken easily does three meals), as one element with a lot of veg. I buy free-range eggs as the family easily go through 12 a week and I want to get back to free-range meat when finances allow. :-( So, it's not so much the death of the animal as the conditions in which it has lived that concerns me.

I could probably kill and eat a rabbit or a chicken or a fish, but not a cow or a pig

I'd not have a clue how to but in theory yes, of course I'd then be left with a dead animal and no idea how to skin/ pluck / butcher it.
I have spent a lot of time on farms and have visited slaughter houses through work. I thought the later might put me off but I found them calm and orderly and was amazed by the skill of the workers.

No, I couldn't do it.
I suppose that must make me a hypocrite. I'm going to ponder this.

I could kill a fish, though I'd rather not.

I can fish, and kill my catch, I can find and cook mussels, shrimp, sea urchins, clams and winkles, and I can kill lobsters and crabs. We had chickens for a while, but couldn't kill them, just ate the eggs. I could probably manage a few garden snails, too.

Good question.

I enjoy meat. I don't like to think about what I'm eating and, if I do, it can put me off.

I watched a film recently where a teenager worked on a cow farm, was told to kill the cow. I found it really hard to watch, even though this particular cow wasn't being killed.

I couldn't kill an animal to eat it.

However, I'm not against animal testing for medicinal research. I am for cosmetic purposes. I lost a child to cancer and I have strong feelings about getting the cure for this disease asap. Ive seen many kids on paediatric oncology wards suffer and die. My opinion and I'm entitled to it.

Yes I would. I've been brought up in rural France where you knew that whilst the rabbit in your grandparents was cute it would also end up being Sunday lunch at one point.

I do. We rear all our livestock humanely and then dispatch poultry ourselves while larger stock goes to a trusted local abattoir. I wouldn't eat supermarket chicken and I'm very careful about the provenance of any meat that I buy in. Everything we eat has a happy life and a fast, humane end.

Bluelonerose - I'm interested that you say it is cheaper to eat meat as I can't understand that at all. As a family we eat vegetarian ( 1 veggie, one meat eating coeliac who eats veggie at home, 2 x occasional fish eaters) I find with a cupboard full of pulses, veg from the market and the odd bag of quorn or tofu I can feed the family for about a third less ( and eat very well indeed) than if we had meat.

I couldn't kill an animal but what really concerns me is the number of people who wouldn't meat cheap chicken or pork if they could see the conditions these animals are raised in for meat.

No

But thankfully there are butchers etc to do the grim stuff

It's actually dairy I worry more about. I think milk is a crueller product than free range meat.

I think I could kill animals for meat in some circumstances but I couldn't work in an abattoir.

Yes, provided it had had a good life on my holding beforehand and I was able to kill it humanely.

We kept pigs and chickens when I was a kid. Some were like pets but my dad was always clear that their time was limited. They were treated very well and then quietly 'dispatched' by him when the time came.

I reckon I could kill chickens and fish, but would have to learn to live without beef, lamb and pork.