If Animals are Our Friends, Why Would We Want to Eat Them?
by Everyone says that a dog is man’s best friend, right? And of course you would never think of eating your best friend for dinner. Then why is it that people think it is perfectly fine to eat lambs, and calves, and chickens?
Yes, I used to eat meat, and it wasn’t that long ago that I had my last “real” hamburger. But everytime I even think about putting a piece of meat into my mouth now, I feel like crying. Growing up I always had pets. Most of my pets were cats, but I also had dogs, hamsters, turtles and goldfish. I can’t even imagine eating one of them and yet people all over the world eat different types of animals every single day, including some of these.
Here in North America we would never think to eat our pets, but what about people that keep pigs as pets. Potbelly pigs are supposed to be just as intelligent as dogs. They are said to be quite easy to train and actually very clean. Yet, people eat pork. Some people keep birds as pets, such as budgies, doves, pigeons, canaries, etc. and no one would ever think to cook one of them on the BBQ. And yet, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys lose their lives everyday just so someone can spread BBQ sauce all over them or cram them full of cranberry stuffing.
What makes it okay to eat one type of animal and not another? It can’t be that pet animals are cuter because bunnies are absolutely adorable, calves have the sweetest brown eyes with the longest eyelashes you’ll ever see, and baby chicks are so fuzzy and yellow they are like little balls of sunshine. Why would anyone want to end their lives?
I’m new to this vegetarian thing and I am the only one in my family (not only my household, but my entire family) who does not eat meat anymore, but I really do think that there are plenty of other foods out there for humans to consume. There really is no need for us to murder just so that we can eat.
Try to think of all the types of meat that you can. How many can you name? And don’t start naming every type of fish in the sea, fish just counts as one. You have beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, goose, duck, rabbit, and a few others. We don’t need to start adding every animal on the planet. I’m talking about the types of meat that you would actually find in your local grocery store, not monkey, or kangaroo. Now, try to name all the fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains that you can. Your list would go on and on. When I first announced to everyone around me that I was no longer a meat-eater, the first thing that people asked me was, “What do you eat, then?” Where do I start… and how do I end… there is no end.
If people would just try to go without meat for even one week, you would see how easy it really is. I did miss it in the beginning, but that’s only because I had over 40 years of doing it to undo. I do not miss it at all, in fact I don’t know if I could ever go back to it. The smell alone turns my stomach sometimes, especially when it is raw and I’m the one who has to cook it for the rest of my family. Needless to say, they don’t get as much meat for dinner as they used to. And so far no one has really complained. I just try to make our meatless meals as tasty as possible.
When I first gave up meat, it was, in all honesty to try to shed a few pounds, but while researching recipes on the internet I came across a whole lot of other information that in one way I’m glad I saw and in another way I wish I had never seen it. I just cannot get those images out of my head. I guess that’s good, really, because at least there are a few animals still alive today because of me.
How and why would anyone think of eating this little cutie?
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Post Commentjedopi
On June 3, 2009 at 9:14 am
Is there anyone else out there who is new to vegetarianism? I would love to hear your thoughts.
jan
On June 4, 2009 at 9:22 am
i agree with you wholeheartedly. it’s nice to know there’s others who care.
Littlekid137
On June 4, 2009 at 1:32 pm
This makes me think…. good article.
Brenda Nelson
On June 4, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Pigs are as smart as dogs, this is a reason my sister gave up eating pork – however by stopping eating one animal, she eats another.
I have a theory that one dead cow feeds more people than one dead chicken so eating beef is actually less cruel. However on the whole eating less meat is even less cruel.
Since owning pet hens, I cannot even think about eating chicken (we also have pet sheep, but I never liked the taste of lamb anyhow).
I think people would be better off eating more free range eggs – which are NOT baby chicks, since they do not have a dad (no rooster is needed to make eggs).
Also hunted meat is for sure less cruel – at least those animals had interesting lives, not standing in their own poop for months waiting to be killed.
Good link. I am not ready to be a vegetarian, but support those who are, as long as they remember, eating meat is natural to the human diet, although most people eat too much of it!
Mark Gordon Brown
On June 4, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I was a vegetarian for a while, but got very ill as a result. I do not think the diet works for everyone, but certainly everyone could do a better job at reducing the amount of meat they do eat.
Eating an animal because it is cute, or ugly, should not matter. It is dying either way.
If people are pushed too much against eating meat, I do not think they will learn. Go gentle.
willow
On April 1, 2010 at 10:05 pm
The saddest story changed my life.
I’ve always loved animals, and would only occasionally have red meat. Then I heard a farmer talk on a radio station about how he became a vegetarian. He talked about how a cow had died on him and he was left with her calf. He fed her from birth and as she grew she followed the farmer around (like a puppy), and would lick him when he stood still. Then came the day when he was told to load some cows on the truck to be slaughtered.
He tried to load this calf on the truck, but she would not go.
So then when they forced her?”on to the truck, she looked at him as if to say “what did I do wrong?”
Enough said! I have never eaten anything with a face since
I’m working on clams, scallops, and shrimp, but I find it amazing how each us reaches our own morality codes
ylcmro
On December 10, 2010 at 12:33 am
“I guess that’s good, really, because at least there are a few animals still alive today because of me.”
Just because one person gives up meat that doesn’t mean that fewer animals die because of it. It’s not as though the number of animals slaughtered is based on each individual consumer, or that that number is reduced when one person stops. If mass numbers of people went vegan then over time the demand for meat would decrease, and only then would the number of animals killed decrease. But one person going vegan doesn’t save an animal’s life.