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Ok, I am a vegetarian and have been for over 16 years but I have a question:
I know we are all veggie for one reason or another, my daughter has recently (last summer) became a vegetarian because of animal cruelty and it got me thinking...
Is it more cruel to raise animals for clothing and consumption or is it more cruel to let an animal race go extinct?
Again, please do not be angry, it is an honest question. I asked my daughter what she thought would happen to the cows that were raised yet not used and she assumed we would go old-school India and let the cattle roam. I told her this would not happen and that ranchers would either need to sell their land to survive or they would have to stop raising cattle and grow corn or soy.
So, is it better to let cows, pigs, chickens, etc to die off than to continue consuming them?
Angry? Not at all, yours is an interesting question.
I read once about all the resources we use up (water, grain, medicine, land, pollution) to produce one pound of beef meat. From a cost analysis, cow meat is wasteful; it would make sense to grow lentils or beans for protein instead of beef cows.
Should they be allowed to go extinct?
The Hereford beef cow is pretty much a man-created animal that would have a hard time fending for itself. Bred for meat production, not for brains. Might take a few generations for it to get its smarts back from survival of the fittest self-determination. The old-breed Longhorns were wily and smart, mean, too, I've heard--and more lean, not so meat-rich.
My point being, does it have to either/or? I'm sure there are some wild 'feral' cows out there on the range just as there are wild mustangs and burro's and goats.
I was thinking about this last night. The herbivores , as part of nature, evolved and provided food for the carnivores in the food chain. As to why each exists, well, that's just nature. Life exists in all it's many species. That's all there is to it.
It will be intersting to see if more people respond.
I can understand the philosphy and history of why we (as humans) eat and wear animal, but it will be interesting to find out what more people think.
Again, I was surprised at my daughters thought that cows will continue to exist in full.
I guess there is a chance that the animals that are strong will survive and the weak will vanish.
After I posted this last night I saw something on TV that they are still trying to collect wild Mustangs in CO to train; I admit that I was somewhat surprised to see there are still wild horses out there. They live on government land.
i'm not exactly vegan for animal welfare reasons (it's *a* reason, but not the main one), but to me, it seems that it would be preferable for a species to go extinct, or to change radically, rather than exclusively living short, painful lives.
that being said, on a traditional farm (using this model: http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/holistic080204.cfm (broken link)) i think animals do live decent lives, and the environmental impact of farming is greatly lessened. i am mainly opposed to factory farming. but traditional farms can't supply meat and dairy products on the scale that americans eat them.
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Hi, I hope you don't mind a carnivor popping her head in here, but the thread's title got my curiosity up. That is an interesting question. As for the example of cattle, would we not continue to breed them for milk? Just a thought.
i don't know how sustainable the dairy industry would be without the meat industry.
cows need to have at least one calf to start producing milk, and those calves have to go somewhere. at present many of them go to slaughter. if there was only a dairy industry, there would be no use for the majority of male calves and i'm not sure what would happen to them.
that's part of why i'm vegan - the meat and dairy industries are pretty inextricably linked, especially when it comes to milk.
Again, I was surprised at my daughters thought that cows will continue to exist in full.
I guess there is a chance that the animals that are strong will survive and the weak will vanish.
Well, as long as they are left alone in their natural state, they should be able to survive. Bulls are pretty strong and would protect the herd, but in captivity you don't see this happen.
Ok, I am a vegetarian and have been for over 16 years but I have a question:
I know we are all veggie for one reason or another, my daughter has recently (last summer) became a vegetarian because of animal cruelty and it got me thinking...
Is it more cruel to raise animals for clothing and consumption or is it more cruel to let an animal race go extinct?
So, is it better to let cows, pigs, chickens, etc to die off than to continue consuming them?
Why is the number of farm animals important? More important IMHO is how well the ones who are here are treated. Think of how we spay and neuter our cats and dogs, instead of letting them breed into great numbers. Farmers will always have a few dairy cows and bulls. They will never become extinct. Remember, when the automobile took over, horses didn't become extinct. And I don't have a problem with individuals slaughtering their own well-kept, grass-fed animals if they simply must be carnivores.
But as the number of vegetarians grow, the ugly feed lots will thankfully disappear. Whenever I drive by one, it breaks my heart. All those cows lying in huge piles of manure, not a blade of grass to be seen. Concentration camps for cows.
The truth is, only about 15% of us are vegetarians, so it will be a very long time before a real balance is achieved. Gradually there will be more vegetarians as more people evolve spiritually and ethically.
As for the example of cattle, would we not continue to breed them for milk?
You may be surprised to learn that most of the human beings on planet Earth today do not drink or use cow's milk. Further, most of them can't drink milk because it makes them ill.
Of all the mammals, only humans (and then only a minority, principally
Caucasians) continue to drink milk beyond babyhood. Milk is a maternal lactating secretion, a short term nutrient for new-borns. Nothing more, nothing less. Then lactation stops and the young one moves on to more appropriate food.
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