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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that meat eaters...

410 replies

hashbrownsandwich · 04/10/2021 11:26

Should be comfortable to slaughter animals if they are happy to eat them?

The 'cheap chicken' threads have got me onto this and I'm at home with covid so be gentle!

My own personal background is that I am vegetarian and have been since I was 7. Own decision. I cook meat for my children and my husband because I believe, like i was given, it's a choice that can be made for themselves.

My husband is from farming background and has proactively raised and slaughtered animals. His conscience is entirely clear because he very much has the farmer mindset of raise the animal, give them a good life, dispatch and consume.

It's coming up to 'Turkey time' on the family farm and with the so called shortages forecast this year, I've found myself having more conversations with colleagues about the food chain/supply etc.

We live in an affluent area and we have lots of farm shops, butchers etc. However, I'm shocked that most people I know have said while they couldn't give up meat, they also wouldn't be happy to raise animals for slaughter themselves or to witness their slaughter.

So AIBU to to believe, if you're going to eat meat, it's your moral duty to be ok with animal slaughter?

Just to say, what I've tried in a long winded way above is that i'm not a preachy veggie and I'm not vegan.

OP posts:
HunkyPunk · 04/10/2021 12:15

@Lavender24

Most meat eaters can't even bear to watch slaughterhouse footage let alone slaughter an animal.
Absolutely. When I became a vegetarian so many years ago that it was still considered to be a bit odd, people used to almost mock me for being soft, over-sentimental about animals and unable to face up to the harsh realities of life. On the contrary, I had watched horrific film footage and documentaries dealing with the cruelty and mistreatment of animals in the food industry, which had informed my decision, whereas they were happily ignorant of such realities, as they loved their meat too much to make themselves uncomfortable looking behind the scenes into what happened to it beforehand.
LickLick · 04/10/2021 12:17

@slashlover has good point. @hashbrownsandwich, maybe you will forgo NHS surgery unless you are willing to conduct a heart bypass yourself? Or maybe you shouldn't have access to the bin service unless you are willing to collect the trash yourself? OMG!

Tink626 · 04/10/2021 12:17

I'm a complete hypocrite on this issue and I know I am. Not only is there absolutely no way I could slaughter an animal, I also can't help judge others that do or would.

And yet I'm ashamed to say I do eat meat and I hate the fact that I do (even though I don't eat much of it).

EgonSpengler2020 · 04/10/2021 12:17

By your logic anyone accepting medical care, cannulation, injection, open surgery, dressing oozing weeping legs, suctioning mucus out of airways etc should be totally prepared, given the required training, to administer the same care to others, regardless of squeemishness and phobias.

KingsleyShacklebolt · 04/10/2021 12:18

Gosh yes, fab idea. Let's have people who haven't a clue about killing animals chasing chickens around with the bread knife. Perfect way to reduce animal suffering.

And vegetarians wonder why they have a reputation for having a lunatic fringe.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 04/10/2021 12:18

@HangingOver

BeastOfBODMAS you're speaking my language. Followed by some of those nice chocolate cakes made by Oggs.

Plus I get to call the neighbor's cat a "bloody furry murderer" with a clear conscience whenever she brings me a mouse. Grin

See, even the cat can tell that you need feeding up Grin.

I tell mine 'Well done, clever boy. Now get that poor bloody thing back outside where you got it from'. He understands and takes it back outside before its mortal remains are interred within the nearest wheelie bin as he glares at me from the living room window.

StrychnineInTheSandwiches · 04/10/2021 12:18

@DistanceCall

Oh, and also. I don't have pets now. But I would kill and eat my dogs if I got stuck in the Arctic, starving, for example. And I have no issue with people in Asia eating dogs.

I do think that animals should be treated as humanely as possible and should suffer as little as possible. I do think there are more important issues, though.

I'd eat people if I was stuck and starving in the Arctic. I think most of us would. The urge to find food when starving would crowd out everything else.
mayblossominapril · 04/10/2021 12:18

Dairy cows were traditionally left with their calf until it was a week or so old and could go all night without a feed. Then the calf was shut away from the mother at night so humans could milk the cow in the morning but the cow and calf remained together and the calf could feed during the day. Some dairy farms are starting to move back to a similar system. Male calfs were raised for meat and females for replacements.
Its only a few dairy farms that now shoot male calves most raise them and then sell them on for fattening. They don't get particularly fat and are called processing beef and end up in pies. I am in the north where there is no shortage of grass/straw/feed and often small farm fatten these calves. I realise its probably different in other parts of the country.

Mybalconyiscracking · 04/10/2021 12:19

Oh give over. I use pens, no idea how to make ink! I shit and flush the loo, no idea how to process sewage!
And I do not feel guilty about enjoying meat, just finished a Greggs sausage roll for lunch in fact!

miniwolf · 04/10/2021 12:19

You know what, I agree with you OP. However I would only ever admit that here, not in real life. I don't ever want to be labelled a "preachy vegan" so I'm always at the other extreme, apologising for it (eg going out for meals) and trying to hide it. It's always going to be a divisive topic but I don't see how anyone can pretend animal consumption isn't really really grim.

miniwolf · 04/10/2021 12:20

Oh give over. I use pens, no idea how to make ink! I shit and flush the loo, no idea how to process sewage!
And I do not feel guilty about enjoying meat, just finished a Greggs sausage roll for lunch in fact!

😂

LongSnoutCurlyTail · 04/10/2021 12:21

Completely agree, I’m vegan and people often ask me why and my main reason is that I wouldn’t be prepared to kill an animal myself so I don’t feel I have the right to eat it. It definitely got a lot of my friends and colleagues thinking about where their food came from. It also made apparent the perceived hierarchy of animals in our society as a lot of people said they could kill and chicken but not a cow, sheep or pig. But for me personally if I can’t kill the animal myself I shouldn’t be eating it.

Georgyporky · 04/10/2021 12:21

There are a lot of "Pick Your Own" places.
How about a "Kill your own turkey" for those farms with labour shortages ?

DistanceCall · 04/10/2021 12:22

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches I said I'd KILL dogs and eat them. I would eat people who were already dead (I think), but I certainly wouldn't kill living people. I think most of us wouldn't.

Seesawmummadaw · 04/10/2021 12:22

Op would you kill an animal to feed your children?

doublemonkey · 04/10/2021 12:23

Will vegetarians be happy to cut down forests and dig up rolling green fields to plant soy?

Wazzzzzzzup · 04/10/2021 12:24

I'd eat people if I was stuck and starving in the Arctic. I think most of us would. The urge to find food when starving would crowd out everything else.

I already checked neighbours for who might look like not too chewy, lean meat in case of serious food shortages😂

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 04/10/2021 12:25

I use toilets, I don't want to work down a sewer. I have visited the viewing area at the top of the shard, I would not go anywhere near a high rise construction site. I run a car, I would not want to work on an oil platform. Family members have had surgery, I don't think I could operate on anyone. I have seen animals slaughtered, but I do not want to do that myself. I am glad there are others who are prepared to do all these jobs that I prefer not to.

Rosebel · 04/10/2021 12:26

Killing an animal is hardly the same thing as cooking or eating it.
I have never killed an animal although I know my dad has (worked on family farm) and my husband worked in a slaughter house for a short while. Both of them are happy eating meat.
I'm not going to stop cooking or eating it just because I've never killed it.
Same way I don't milk cows but still eat dairy and the same way people still use leather but don't kill the animals.
I guess we could all stop eating meat but at what cost to struggling farmers.

Mybalconyiscracking · 04/10/2021 12:26

@LongSnoutCurlyTail

Completely agree, I’m vegan and people often ask me why and my main reason is that I wouldn’t be prepared to kill an animal myself so I don’t feel I have the right to eat it. It definitely got a lot of my friends and colleagues thinking about where their food came from. It also made apparent the perceived hierarchy of animals in our society as a lot of people said they could kill and chicken but not a cow, sheep or pig. But for me personally if I can’t kill the animal myself I shouldn’t be eating it.
I am quite sure your friends feel very lucky to have access to someone with such unique insight! I am sure they had never even considered this until you pointed it out to them.
StrychnineInTheSandwiches · 04/10/2021 12:26

[quote DistanceCall]@StrychnineInTheSandwiches I said I'd KILL dogs and eat them. I would eat people who were already dead (I think), but I certainly wouldn't kill living people. I think most of us wouldn't.[/quote]
I'd like to think I wouldn't murder my companion so I could munch on their rump. But I can get very hangry.

Heruka · 04/10/2021 12:26

@slashlover

Just to say, what I've tried in a long winded way above is that i'm not a preachy veggie and I'm not vegan.

You are a preachy veggie. I've been vegetarian for 30 years and you're the type who give us a bad name.

If I wouldn't work in a sewerage plant then should I not used the toilet?
If I don't want to work on an oil rig then should I never heat my house?
If I don't want to work on the bins then should I never throw anything away?

I agree, also veggie and I’m not sure why you think you are not being preachy! I don’t understand how people who care for animals can eat meat - I think there’s a lot of cognitive dissonance going on - so I have sympathy with your point. However, I wish no one wanted to kill and exploit animals, but they do. And like pps have said, I contribute to unethical treatment of animals by not being vegan so it’s not for me to judge.
daisyjgrey · 04/10/2021 12:27

@LickLick

I dunno, I'd give a heart bypass a good crack. All my surgical knowledge comes from Grey's Anatomy though so I'm not sure how successful I'd be.

Balonzette · 04/10/2021 12:29

This argument is so tedious.

You don't HAVE to be willing to slaughter an animal personally in order to eat meat.

You can have all the opinions you want but the fact is, it's all meaningless.

ChloeCrocodile · 04/10/2021 12:30

I'm from a farming background so have no problem with animal slaughter. I don't have the skills to do it without causing extra pain and distress to the animal so I prefer to leave it to the experts.

I also have no problem eating animals others consider "pet" animals either. I've eaten guinea pig, dog and horse. I wouldn't eat my own cats because I have an emotional attachment to them. But in extremis the cats would be eaten before I starved or started snacking on the neighbours!

That said, I am fortunate that I can afford to pay attention to animal welfare standards and can choose to buy more expensive meat. I don't judge those who don't have the choice though.