The only way to end domesticated animals' suffering: give up meat/dairy COMPLETELY?

[LOVEthroughINTELLECT]

In this blog anthropologist Barbara J. King asks Paul Shapiro of the Humane Society of the United States, Bruce Friedrich of Farm Sanctuary, and Alka Chandna of PETA., "Do you find it personally motivating or inspiring to reflect upon the number of animals who live each year, who otherwise would not, because you are vegan?"

Shapiro responds: "Eating fewer or no animals doesn't mean that animals who would've been killed will now live; it means that animals who would've been bred into existence to suffer on factory farms will now not be brought into the world and exploited in the terrible ways that are customary in the meat industry. It's a supply and demand issue. Less demand should mean less supply."


What I do not get is this: does ending the suffering of animals on factory farms mean that we all must completely give up animal products?

In other words, dramatically reducing our consumption of such products won't work? Only everybody completely giving them up will work? Only no demand = no supply of suffering animals?

Shapiro does say "fewer or no animals", but I get the impression that what is being said is that we--every however many billion of us there are today--are all going to have limit ourselves to a vegan diet.

 

[Messy]

They ' d have to kill all the cattle if they are of no use anymore unless vegans pay for them to live and eat somewhere.

 

[Inkfingers]

Actually, the only way to end all animal suffering is to wipe out all animal life (as being alive means that at some point they will suffer).

 

[KitKatMatt]

We don't have to give up all meat and dairy to end the suffering of animals on factory farms.

We need to give up the factory farms. We need to change the way we raise animals for meat and milk. Let them outdoors where they can walk around in a large area (instead of being smashed against each other), let them eat the food they were made for (ie: let cows eat grass and not corn- grass drastically reduces the amount of e. coli in their digestive systems because they are made to eat it. Less pain for them and less food borne illness for us), let them be in an environment where their bodies aren't being stressed to the max and where their waste isn't piling up on top of them.

We can use them for milk and meat while respecting, caring, and treating them humanely at the same time.

 

[Resha Caner]

We don't have to give up all meat and dairy to end the suffering of animals on factory farms.

We need to give up the factory farms. We need to change the way we raise animals for meat and milk. Let them outdoors where they can walk around in a large area (instead of being smashed against each other), let them eat the food they were made for (ie: let cows eat grass and not corn- grass drastically reduces the amount of e. coli in their digestive systems because they are made to eat it. Less pain for them and less food borne illness for us), let them be in an environment where their bodies aren't being stressed to the max and where their waste isn't piling up on top of them.

We can use them for milk and meat while respecting, caring, and treating them humanely at the same time.

It wouldn't work. The amount of food production would drop drastically if every animal were given a right to a certain amount of space, etc. As I recall, beef production takes much more energy than poultry and pork - like 10 tens as much.

Also, there is a definite difference in the taste of grass fed vs. corn fed beef. IMO corn fed beef is much better.

And there are 2 of the real problems that vegans aren't addressing. First, animals don't own property, so if they aren't producing value on the property they occupy, people will squeeze them out to use the space for other food sources. IOW, animals will become extinct. Second, people like the taste, and people like to eat what tastes good. You would have to "breed" a desire for meat out of people. So, you would have to justify a genetic program to do that.

Honestly, though, what I don't get is why vegans object to eating animals they can see, but not the animals (microscopic) they can't see. Or what about the duress we cause plants? Why are animals the issue? It seems very anthropomorphic to me - a projection of our feelings onto animals. Would we also try to stop all carnivores from hunting?

 

[Desk trauma]

We don't have to give up all meat and dairy to end the suffering of animals on factory farms

We do if we want to be able to provide the quantity of meat/dairy that is required to feed our population not to mention cost.

 

[Resha Caner]

Maybe science should try to produce cost-effective synthetic beef:
In vitro meat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[True Scotsman]

In this blog anthropologist Barbara J. King asks Paul Shapiro of the Humane Society of the United States, Bruce Friedrich of Farm Sanctuary, and Alka Chandna of PETA., "Do you find it personally motivating or inspiring to reflect upon the number of animals who live each year, who otherwise would not, because you are vegan?"

Shapiro responds: "Eating fewer or no animals doesn't mean that animals who would've been killed will now live; it means that animals who would've been bred into existence to suffer on factory farms will now not be brought into the world and exploited in the terrible ways that are customary in the meat industry. It's a supply and demand issue. Less demand should mean less supply."


What I do not get is this: does ending the suffering of animals on factory farms mean that we all must completely give up animal products?

In other words, dramatically reducing our consumption of such products won't work? Only everybody completely giving them up will work? Only no demand = no supply of suffering animals?

Shapiro does say "fewer or no animals", but I get the impression that what is being said is that we--every however many billion of us there are today--are all going to have limit ourselves to a vegan diet.

Or you could raise your own, like we do. Our Chickens get to roam freely and be chickens before the ax falls if it does at all. Unlike a lot of people I continue to feed my hens after they have stopped producing eggs. They deserve it.

 

[KitKatMatt]

We do if we want to be able to provide the quantity of meat/dairy that is required to feed our population not to mention cost.

Of course there are cons to the method I endorsed up there, but there are also cons to factory farming.

I would prefer eating much less red meat that is from healthier, humanely raised sources. I've already cut out almost all red meat from my diet because of this.

 

[Resha Caner]

Of course there are cons to the method I endorsed up there, but there are also cons to factory farming.

True.

I would prefer eating much less red meat that is from healthier, humanely raised sources. I've already cut out almost all red meat from my diet because of this.

That's not a bad goal.

 

[BL2KTN]

In the US, states should enact responsible legislation to protect the well-being of animals until their harvesting. Not all animals are neurologically similar, however, and it may be a moot point to consider the well-being of a chicken for example. Mammals and other higher functioning animals (mentally) would need more protection than the harvesting of crickets.

At the present, there is no way to cease the slaughter of animals for food, and to try is likely immoral. Standards should be raised for the treatment of all sentient creatures, but hopefully we will soon mass-market lab-grown meats. This along with other paradigm shifts in technology will hopefully improve society over the next century.

 

[Inkfingers]

We don't have to give up all meat and dairy to end the suffering of animals on factory farms.

This may surprise you but I completely agree. It is high time that we did away with factory farming, but it won't happen because every time it is raised a large cohort of the Left start to protest that it will make meat too expensive for the poor to afford. They are right of course, it will, but that doesn't make it wrong....it just makes it electorally unfloatable.

Which is a shame, as I want to see agriculture return to free-range, organic and extensive (as opposed to factory, pesticides and intensive), with meat as something of a treat rather than something disposable and cheap.