To think you can be an animal lover and eat meat?

[MyOtherUsernameisaPun]

I know I'm going to be flamed, have donned protective gear...

But I think that it's hypocritical to eat meat and claim to be an animal lover. That isn't to say meat eaters don't deeply love their pets - I fully accept that they do! But I think that in those cases they only love certain animals, not animals generally.

We know that pigs are far more intelligent than dogs. We know that cows form close social bonds with specific individuals within the herd. We know enough to confidently state that there is no reason to separate pets from any other species except that we are conventionally accustomed to doing so.

I think everyone is free to make their own choices and whether or not I approve of them is totally irrelevant. But I don't think there is any logical grounds for a meat eater to claim that they are an animal lover when they're happy for some kinds of animals to suffer and be killed.

I mentally roll my eyes a little when meat eaters talk about loving animals. Generally though, people who say that do care but are just doing some mental gymnastics not to see the hypocrisy. I see them as potential future vegetarians and just try to be positive about vegetarianism if it comes up in conversation. Although I’ve been veggie since I was 10 (now nearly 40), I was vegan for a year and I do believe that’s a better moral choice but not one I’m making right now, so I do understand still doing something that on one level you know is wrong. I’m a hypocrite too
Harm reduction is a worthwhile thing and eating less meat or meat with higher welfare standards isn’t nothing. I do wonder though, if everyone who ever posts about this is eating local, high welfare meat, who is eating the masses of poor quality, factory farmed stuff that is by far the majority?
Final point - people who start talking about plant pain like they don’t know the difference between a cow and a daffodil are the worst. It’s a stupid and unoriginal argument

So your saying you can't love something if you eat it? But I LOVE CHOCOLATE!

Silly thread you're just looking for an argument.

I'm not a potential future vegetarian, how very bloody dare you!

I mentally roll my eyes a little when meat eaters talk about loving animals

How sad to be so closed minded that you can't see people can do both.

I see them as potential future vegetarians

That's very rude. I was a vegetarian for 17 years. I'll never go back to being a vegetarian - meat is delicious and needs to be in our diets. I'll just look at you as a potential future meat eater, then.

A rare filet steak with pan fried foie gras is simply a non-negotiable pleasure in life. Wouldn’t eat my dog though.

I love animals and want to become vegan. I’m just a really shit vegan! Must try harder.

The thing I don’t like is when vegans wax lyrical about all the palm-oil, (and other, equally harmful substance), laden foods they eat. That’s not especially ethical is it? The cow down the road vs the orangutans in Borneo..? If I had the will power, I’d be a vegan who only ate local / ethically sourced plant produce and very little else. But I’m a bit shit at it, so I eat lots of things from industries I know I shouldn’t support, including meat and dairy .

That said, I do put humans first and I worry about the state of farmers in this country if the meat and dairy industries went under (unlikely).

I really like that some people within the meat and dairy industries are doing more to combat waste as well. I saw a Biltong on television recently, made from retired dairy cows. No, it’s not a lovely thought (poor cows), but if you are veggie but eat dairy then what do you think should happen to those cows?

Most vegetarian food is not particularly ethical. The uk can only produce a tiny fraction of the foods that we expect to buy in Tesco every week. Look at where your food comes from, haven't spotted many fields of quinoa or rice recently. The countryside does not have orange groves or banana trees.

Some beef is fed predominantly on grain which is usually UK produced, but much is not, grassfed lamb is easy to find in your local butchers.

People that strive to eat local, seasonal produce have far better bragging rights than the animal loving vegetarians flying food in from all over the world.

Bad English there - much of the beef eaten is not fed on a complete grain feed, not that much of the grain is imported.

I’d ask how can you be an animal lover whilst being totally against nature and it’s food chain?

If you’re such an animal lover, surely you don’t pollute the air with a car? Have children that will contribute to our over population? Do you only use recycled paper and plastics, recycle all of your rubbish? Never use any kind of pesticides? Make sure none of your food contains palm oil? The list could go on and on. You may feel all high and mighty judging meat eaters, but if you’re such a huge animal lover, there are far more damaging things we do to their populations than farming.

I see them as potential future vegetarians

What kind of stupidness is this 😂

Food chains is all there is to it. That alone proves it isn’t wrong to eat meat. We just raise and kill humanely rather than on the spot and wasting it these days. Much better.

Not an animal lover, so I will continue to enjoy my homekill organic beef, pork, bacon and lamb 😋

@QuackPorridgeBacon
How does the food chain prove we're supposed to eat meat?? Just because we have he ability to kill animals doesn't mean we're supposed to, nor does it make it morally right.

We also know that meat causes colossal damage to our bodies - that proves we're not supposed to eat meat.
We're not omnivore or carnivores, our bodies were not made to sustain animal products.

The food chain shows that eating meat is just as natural and non-evil as eating plants.

I have recently become Vegan, having watched a deeply distressing video where three beautiful, innocent newborn calves were executed (shot in the head in front of each other) simply for being born male! This was in the UK, in a dairy farm and apparently is not uncommon for dairy farmers. I felt sick, was deeply affected and ashamed that I had no idea that this was happening so I could drink milk.

Obviously, everyone is different but I could not touch milk without seeing the innocent eyes of those babies.

I think big difference in meat eaters who say "oh I love animals" meaning they find their pets and other pretty animals nice enough- to vegans/veggies whose love for animals also takes into account deeper feelings of compassion/empathy and a genuine concern for animals not suffering pain, suffering and fear as a consequence of humans killing and eating them.

Love is a very board term and when meat eaters use this its in the broader/less specific context, IMO.

@AngelsSins
How is going to the super market and buying a pack of processed sausage meat part of nature?
You're not going up to a wild pig and digging your teeth into it. 🙄

@Lweji
Ummm... animals don't have a nervous system and they can't feel....
Animals are sentient and feel the same emotions we do.

They do not feel the same emotions as we do. What makes you think they do? Do cows feel pride in their appearance? Do pigs feel the pain of missed opportunity and guilt?
Don't be absurd. Its entirely possible that animals feel some emotion in their own way, but not the same ones that humans do.

I do raise my eyebrows when people say they love all animals then eat meat. It’s ok to say you love some animals and not others, but to claim you love a cow as you’re eating a steak is a bit weird. ‘Love’ is over used anyway imo... I love my kids and like the cows in the field opposite, I certainly don’t love them, even if they are very cute!

iron what a bizarre argument?!
I doubt most cows get the chance to look in a mirror much, but are you really comparing fear/loss/suffering/pain of animals - to human vanity as a similar emotion? Most animals do groom themselves (and their loved ones) regularly demonstrating they certainly take pride in their appearance- but this really isn't the point is it.

I agree! Anyone who claims they love animals and eat meat clearly don’t love animals. They love domesticated pets.
I don’t see why people eat meat when there are alternatives to everything these days ... (before anyone pipes up about cost - i spend a lot less on grocery shopping now) each to their own I suppose, think it comes down to ignorance, less they know the better ... don’t have to see animals being killed so to them it isn’t really happened etc

@Curiousmoi Wed 09-May-18 13:51:15
Ummm... animals don't have a nervous system and they can't feel....
I'll take it as you're joking here. But just to point out I never said that.
Still, from the point of death, they can't feel.
Animals are sentient and feel the same emotions we do.
Not quite. Certainly not pride in their appearance (@sundowners). Grooming is to get rid of parasites.

@Curiousmoi

How is going to the super market and buying a pack of processed sausage meat part of nature? You're not going up to a wild pig and digging your teeth into it.

Neither is eating a tomato as we eat them now. Or bread.

Your point?

Curiousmoi because the food chain is natural and therefore so is eating meat. Too much of anything is bad for you so your argument doesn’t work. I’d rather eat meat than have to take vitamins just to be getting what I need.

Poopooweewee oh god no. I wouldn’t have a bloody burger, that wouldn’t be safe. Needs to be cooked nicely through and no pink.