Should We All Be Vegetarians?
A Reader Comments:
It has been said that the Spiritual Hierarchy is the saving force and the stewards of the human kingdom Just as man should be the stewards of the animal kingdom who reach their high goal by their interaction and stimulation with the human kingdom. Simply preserving animals so that they can be eaten at some future point somehow does not seem very steward like to me.
JJ: Yes, DK did point out our responsibility to the animal kingdom and even said that humanity would turn out to be saviors of them indicating that the time would come that humans would eventually reach a point where they would do much to make their lives more safe and comfortable.
Whereas it is true that there is abuse today I predict this will decline to the point that it is a rarity and animal life will improve in the following ways.
(1) Humans will assist wild animals so they will not suffer so much in the wild from starvation and cold. Forest fires will be more controlled in the future so fewer animals will be burned alive.
(2) People will increasingly become vegetarians so not so many farm animals will be raised. Those which do continue will be well cared for.
(3) Humans will assist with population control of wild animals to insure species are preserved yet do not overpopulate. They will control natural predators and hunters will be used in this process for some time to come.
(4) As diet shifts away from meat farms and ranches for meat will grow smaller and more personalized. Those who do eat meat will demand the animals be well cared for.
(5) Humanity has made greater strides than is realized for taking care of their pets and our relationship with them will only improve and the little abuse in this area will continue to decrease.
When I was a kid a lot of people shot stray cats and dogs for sport or even tortured them. Others would tie explosives on a cat’s tail and watch him explode thinking that was funny.
Here’s some of the ways they had fun in Europe several hundred years ago:
“Players with hands tied behind them competed to kill a cat nailed to a post by battering it to death with their heads, at the risk of cheeks ripped open or eyes scratched out by the frantic animal’s claws….
“Or a pig enclosed in a wide pen was chased by men with clubs to the laughter of spectators as he ran squealing from the blows until beaten lifeless.”
“But the practical function of cruel punishments was just a part of their appeal. Spectators enjoyed cruelty, even when it served no judicial purpose. Torturing animals, for example, was considered good clean fun. In 16th-century Paris, a popular form of entertainment was cat-burning, in which a cat was hoisted in a sling on a stage and slowly lowered into a fire. According to the historian Norman Davies, “The spectators, including kings and queens, shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized.” Also popular were dogfights, bull runs, cockfights, public executions of “criminal” animals, and bearbaiting, in which a bear would be chained to a post and dogs would tear it apart or be killed in the effort.”
From: The Better Angels Of Our Nature By Steven Pinker
Speaking of cockfights, they were very prevalent when I was a kid as my dad took me to them regularly and had his own fighting roosters.
We have made great progress in the treatment of animals and each other over time, especially in the last 50 years. Most would not dream of mistreating animals today as they were in times of old.
That said, hunting will be used as a means to preserve animals but not an end of itself. Some who want to preserve certain species would prefer to not to offer them for hunting but realize that it is better to sacrifice 10% of a population to paying hunters than to allow 99-100% to disappear from the face of the earth.
Slaughterhouses are accused by some of skinning animals alive or beating them with clubs. I’m sure this claim must be exaggerated. This never happened at the meat-packing plant where I worked in shipping back in 1970. Wikipedia describes the process which was similar to what we used:
“Cattle are rendered unconscious by applying an electric shock of 300 volts and 2 amps to the back of the head, effectively stunning the animal, or by use of a captive bolt pistol to the front of the cow’s head (a pneumatic or cartridge-fired captive bolt). “Swine can be rendered unconscious by CO2/inert gas stunning.
“Animals are hung upside down by both of their hind legs on the processing line.
“The carotid artery and jugular vein are severed with a knife, blood drains, causing death through exsanguination.”
We used the cartridge-fired captive bolt system and the animal was instantly rendered unconscious and never regained it. There was little if any physical suffering. They did seem to have a psychic sense they were going to be slaughtered a few minutes before they were killed.
As far as skinning them alive goes I can’t imagine the people I used to work with doing such a thing. As it was, the Kill Floor was the least desirable place to work, and even these employees would have been repulsed if ordered to skin an animal while consciously alive.
It is unrealistic to think that farm animals would just be miraculously cared for if we all became vegetarians. Farmers raise cattle and pigs so they can sell then for meat. If no one buys the meat then who will care for them – the vegetarians? I don’ t think so.
“PETA claims that their first priority above all else is animal liberation, however on the most basic level this is clearly not true. With the millions of dollars PETA makes every year, they have a grand total of one animal shelter. As much as PETA advocates an animal’s right to fair and ethical treatment, this is not a no kill shelter. In fact, PETA has killed roughly 85% of the animals its shelter has “rescued.”
In many cases, shelters are forced to euthanize animals because they lack the finances to care for them. This is not the case for PETA, who in 2007 made over $30 million dollars. That’s enough money to finance their no kill shelter, and open multiple other no kill shelters.”
If PETA with lots of money do not take much care for animals, then what makes you think the general population would care for cattle if we all turned vegetarians?
Reader: Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens on the road to extinction because of vegetarians? You are mistaken. We keep these animals even when we are not killing them for food. And they wouldn’t go extinct. You seem to go from one extreme to the other.
JJ: Who is this “we” you’re talking about? I know of no one with a pet cow who doesn’t plan to use it for meat or milk.
As far as animal abuse goes, I’m sure all of us here are against it and the numbers that do not support abuse are growing. It’s only a matter of time before conditions improve for all farm animals.
Farm animals are in a different category than those in the wild or pets. Wild animals can take care of themselves and humans take care of pets because they serve a human need. Farm animals like cows, pigs, goats and sheep are taken care of because we eat them. If not for that they would have extreme difficulty in surviving. This is why the switch to vegetarianism needs to be made on a gradual basis which is basically what is happening now.
I won’t eat anything that has intelligent life, but I would gladly eat a network executive or a politician. – Marty Feldman
March 31, 2012
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