The Morality of Eating Meat

[quote]Spry wrote:
Fuck PETA and the RSPCA. There are plenty of humans who are in worse shape than some pets and I say we worry about feeding them first.

[/quote]

PETA maybe, but the RSPCA? They try to help our friends out.

As for millions of starving humans? We have brains (well some of us) - so stop fucken having 5 kids - what for? Especially if you can’t afford them. We control animal populations, they don’t have the power to. We also control our populations, I have zero pity for the starving masses who put themselves in those situations. Look at Burma - people trying to help and their government isn’t allowing it - fuck them, let them suffer.

Humans are overpopulating this planet and killing it off, we could do with a bit of population control - poverty and HIV isn’t working fast enough.

As for eating meat, it depends from culture to culture as said before.

Who knew? The Mage is a cat lover.

Great post. Explains the truth of the situation much better than I could, and with a lot less cusswords.

[quote]rainjack wrote:
Who knew? The Mage is a cat lover.

Great post. Explains the truth of the situation much better than I could, and with a lot less cusswords. [/quote]

Wait, you cuss?

Never knew.

And yes I love pussy.

[quote]The Mage wrote:
Do not spend your time upset over things you have little control over when you can enjoy life. Just make sure by the time you leave it, it is a better place because you were in it.

[/quote]

One can make a whole life living this philosophy. It would be a good life, too.

I used to be a vegetarian. I didn’t believe that it was wrong to eat meat. What bothered me was, as Mage said, the fact that I was not involved in the raising and killing of the animals, and the conditions in slaughter houses, not just for the animals, but the people as well.

However, I know was designed to eat meat, and since I got back on meat, and cut out a lot of grains and soy I can’t describe how much healthier I feel.

When we domesticated the animals that we eat, cows, pigs, chickens, etc, we basically made a deal, we will provide food, shelter, and protection from predators for our animals, and in exchange we get to eat them. The superior members of the flock or herd get saved for breeding and get to live a pretty good life.

You hear horror stories about factory farms and that makes you think things have gotten out of whack and that we’ve broken our have of the deal. Grinding off chickens’ beaks so that they don’t peck each other to death when they’re crammed into tiny cages doesn’t sound like we’re providing a good life for the chicken. But I think that’s still the exception, not the rule.

PETA lies. They say whatever they believe will get people to think their way. When you hear those horror stories, look into who’s telling it, see what their answers are.

If you want to eat meat, there are plenty of humane options out there. It costs an extra dollar, but I think it’s worth it.

if you got a problem with it go take it up with the farmers. im just a guy looking for my next meal and i dont care if it was a chicken raised in a cage or the fucking forest because it still tastes the same and it still has the same nutrients.

I feel this way sometimes. I love meat too. I just wish the animals had a better life though. It seems wierd to be raised to be eaten.

Unless the effin chicken tried to steal my car. I’ll eat a chicken for that, no problem.

[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
If you want to eat meat, there are plenty of humane options out there. It costs an extra dollar, but I think it’s worth it.
[/quote]

You are killing animals and eating their flesh. Why must one worry about the humanity in how the animal died?

I have to wonder how many of you have actually been to a slaughter house, and been on the kill floor. I’d wager that about 99.9% of you have only seen the PETA version of slaughtering animals.

Cattle are killed and processed in the most efficient manner possible. This is the most “humane” method possible. Why? Because undo stress on the animal results in bad tasting beef.

Regardless of what PETA wants you to think, there is no money to be made in cruelty.

Raising animals to be eaten is no issue for me. Industrializing it is the problem. When cows are crammed in pitiful conditions, that’s unacceptable.

I believe overpopulation is the underlying cause here. If we weren’t so many, chances are that we wouldn’t have accepted the conditions under which most livestock spends its days.

There are some very graphic and poignant footage in this video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

[quote]rainjack wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
If you want to eat meat, there are plenty of humane options out there. It costs an extra dollar, but I think it’s worth it.

You are killing animals and eating their flesh. Why must one worry about the humanity in how the animal died?

I have to wonder how many of you have actually been to a slaughter house, and been on the kill floor. I’d wager that about 99.9% of you have only seen the PETA version of slaughtering animals.

Cattle are killed and processed in the most efficient manner possible. This is the most “humane” method possible. Why? Because undo stress on the animal results in bad tasting beef.

Regardless of what PETA wants you to think, there is no money to be made in cruelty.

[/quote]

I really don’t care how the animals are killed. It’s a business, I’m sure the slaughter house doesn’t pay their people to beat animals to death with their shoes. Nor do subscribe to PETA’s version of anything. I thought I made that clear.

When I said Humane options, I was talking about how the animals lived, not died. In my opinion Free range is more humane than being locked in a cage their entire life.

I only eat Soylent Green

DB

[quote]lixy wrote:
Raising animals to be eaten is no issue for me. Industrializing it is the problem. When cows are crammed in pitiful conditions, that’s unacceptable.

I believe overpopulation is the underlying cause here. If we weren’t so many, chances are that we wouldn’t have accepted the conditions under which most livestock spends its days.

There are some very graphic and poignant footage in this video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967[/quote]

Why does it not surprise me that you would use a propaganda piece to make your point?

You have no clue what livestock are subjected to outside of the crap PETA tells you.

Gee, look where the OP is from: California! Big surprise there, huh??

When PETA and the rest of the “animal rights” groups go off on their soapbox, I liken it to government leaders using sensationalism to achieve their means. I grew up in the cattle industry, and was routinely in and around slaughterhouses and feedlots. People see one instance of mismanagement and therefore conclude that EVERY single slaughterhouse is unethical, inhumane and dirty. Not the truth. There are federal inspections done randomly in these packing facilities, and to conclude that nobody cares and that nobody is watching is simply ludicrous.

These crusaders that parade for animal rights should visit some feedyards and packing facilities to get a dose of reality.

[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
rainjack wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
If you want to eat meat, there are plenty of humane options out there. It costs an extra dollar, but I think it’s worth it.

You are killing animals and eating their flesh. Why must one worry about the humanity in how the animal died?

I have to wonder how many of you have actually been to a slaughter house, and been on the kill floor. I’d wager that about 99.9% of you have only seen the PETA version of slaughtering animals.

Cattle are killed and processed in the most efficient manner possible. This is the most “humane” method possible. Why? Because undo stress on the animal results in bad tasting beef.

Regardless of what PETA wants you to think, there is no money to be made in cruelty.

I really don’t care how the animals are killed. It’s a business, I’m sure the slaughter house doesn’t pay their people to beat animals to death with their shoes. Nor do subscribe to PETA’s version of anything. I thought I made that clear.

When I said Humane options, I was talking about how the animals lived, not died. In my opinion Free range is more humane than being locked in a cage their entire life.
[/quote]

Al cattle live the lion’s share of their lives on ranches eating grass and frolicking in the butterfly strewn meadows.

When they are a year old they are moved to feedlots, and kept in pens ranging in size from several thousand square feet to well over an acre.

It’s not butterfly meadows, but it’s not inhumane. They are there to gain 3-4 pounds a day, and then they are slaughtered.

Most cattle are only in the feedlots for 120 days, max.

Even when farmers feed their own steers out for personal consumption, they will move the animal into a pen where he pretty much eats, sleeps, drinks, and craps. Confining animals for finishing is not inhumane, nor is it a tool used exclusively by the evil corporations. It has been done for centuries.

how do you think vegetables feel? the are planted and forced to grow with no hopes of escape and then chopped down by those merciless farmers and eaten by zombie-like vegetarians. im sorry but that is disguisting i dont know how you guys can sleep at night.

i have seen some inhumane treatment of animals, but i took am more concerned with how they live than how they die.
I have somewhat of a personal experience with cattle farming, through relatives, and I’ll say that for the most part, they live a pretty decent life. There are some animasl that aren’t treated as well though, chicken and turkey for example. Also, fur farms are especially cruel in my opinion, becasue they deny wild animals their natural way of life before they are painfully killed. (electrocution, so they don’t spoil any fur unnecessarily) I am not against trapping for fur, but my relatives that trap also use the meat, even if not for their own consumption. They also support themselves on it.
I think the thing to look at is how they are treated while they are living, because that is what can change from farm to farm. The ways of killing, pretty much remain the same.

I just saw a video of a slaughterhouse where the cows are hung upside down, and their throats slit. Apparantly this is the kosher way of killing the cow, to get all the blood out of it. So, maybe these unecessarily cruel ways of killing the animal that we all see, are just kosher ways of doing it? I don’t know.

Anyways, I think this whole vegan thing is just a way for people to feel superior to others. Anyone ever talk to a vegan? They are the most condescending, sanctimonious, and judgemental people I have ever encountered. They really do believe that they are better then everyone else.

I also second The Mage’s comment about nature being an incredibly harsh, violent, and unmerciful place. I think, compared to how mother nature treats them, humans treat animals pretty damn good!

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
how do you think vegetables feel? the are planted and forced to grow with no hopes of escape and then chopped down by those merciless farmers and eaten by zombie-like vegetarians. im sorry but that is disguisting i dont know how you guys can sleep at night. [/quote]

I LOL’ed really hard.

[quote]skaz05 wrote:

Anyways, I think this whole vegan thing is just a way for people to feel superior to others. Anyone ever talk to a vegan? They are the most condescending, sanctimonious, and judgemental people I have ever encountered. They really do believe that they are better then everyone else.

[/quote]

You are absolutely right on the money with this one. I’ve never met more “smug” people than vegans/vegetarians.

*“smug” is a South Park episode reference

[quote]rainjack wrote:
lixy wrote:
Raising animals to be eaten is no issue for me. Industrializing it is the problem. When cows are crammed in pitiful conditions, that’s unacceptable.

I believe overpopulation is the underlying cause here. If we weren’t so many, chances are that we wouldn’t have accepted the conditions under which most livestock spends its days.

There are some very graphic and poignant footage in this video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

Why does it not surprise me that you would use a propaganda piece to make your point?

You have no clue what livestock are subjected to outside of the crap PETA tells you. [/quote]

I don’t know who this PETA is, but I have seen industrial chicken farms, slaughterhouses and the like. And I can assure you that the cows I’ve seen roaming around in green pastures would never trade places with the others.

You can have a lot of respect for an animal and still eat it. I have no issues with that. But crowding them and making them live in horrid conditions is reprehensible. And as I noted earlier, it is a direct consequence of overpopulation. If we weren’t so many, we wouldn’t need to squeeze in as many birds per cubic foot. The only limit to that, being where the poor things start dying.