Does anyone agree that guinea pigs...

Question

should not be eaten. and that it is cruel?

Answer 1

yes they never did anything to them gosh

Answer 2

Yes but it is usually a cultural thing unfortunately. Some cultures think chickens and goats are sacred yet others eat them.  

Answer 3

yes I agree.......ewwww who's been eating them?!

Answer 4

No, I don't agree.

In certain cultures, guinea pigs are bred for food. In mongolia and nepal, people keep breeding groups of guinea pigs in their hut. And when it's dinner time, pick up one off the floor, and there you go!

It's not cruel. It's just a cultural difference.

In american, we view animals such as guinea pigs and dogs and cats and horses as pets and we are appaled if they are eaten or slaughtered for food. Yet we have no remorse in killing a little goat or sheep or pig or cow to eat. Have you had a hamburger lately?

In china, dog meat is a huge delicacy, and is served in almost every resteraunt. For the olympics in beijing, they asked that no resteraunt serve canine meat while the olympic were being run. they did not want to "offend" foreiners.

In india, cows are considered sacred, and killing one and then eating it is a HUGE no no to the culture. Yet like I said, we have no problem, frying them up and adding pickles and tomatoes.

So just calm down. It's not cruel. It's the circle of life. Animals eat other animals. Humans are no different. Until you become a complete vegetarian, you have NO room to say eating one type of animal is cruel while you eat another.

Cows are just as cute

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Answer 5

it's more common a different country and they have different customs there.

for instance, we eat hamburgers here but in other countries that is considered awful and they're worshiped. same thing with guinea pigs. besides, they weren't kept around thousands of years ago in big herds because they were cute.  

Answer 6

That is horrible. I don't know how people eat these adorable creatures. They are so cute and they are so harmlessa dn asweet. it is so rude and inconsiderate to eat these beautiful creatures!

Answer 7

I am vegan and do not believe in eating any animals, so I would not eat a guinea pig.

I would add this caveat, however. We tend to feel outrage when someone eats an animal we think is cute or valuable for something besides food. There is no essential difference between eating a guinea pig and eating a cow except that culturally, we are taught that guinea pigs are cuddly pals and cows are steak. In parts of South America, guinea pigs are a regular menu item and they feel about caveys the way many in our culture feel about chickens and pigs.

That being the case, it is worth being aware that people in our culture only eat pigs, chickens, cows etc. because they personally do not find them "cute." Other than that, there is no difference. The outrage one feels when one learns that other people eat guinea pigs or dogs should perhaps inform our decision about eating other kinds of animals. Animals are here for their own purposes and their lives have meaning quite independent of their value to us personally.

Answer 8

No, I mean I own 3 guinea pigs and no I would never consider eating them. But in Peru it is normal to eat guinea pigs, it is part of their culture an dthey should not have to change them.

I bet a lot of people think its cruel the way we eat cows, chickens and pigs, but we wouldn;t stop eating them. In some places cows are considered to be sacred yet they don;t make a fuss about us eating them. The animals we eat are kept in horrible conditions, compared to the conditions the guinea pigs are kept in. In fact I've seen some places where they keep guinea pigs to eat that keep their animals in better conditions than some pet guinea pigs are kept in. The animals we eat are mostly batteyr farmed and the conditions they're kept in are disgusting, so to be honest us eating cows, chickens and pigs is a lot crueler than peruvians eating guinea pigs.

I think that we just need to be more accepting of other cultures, I mean in some places they eat horses, cats, and dogs, and in some places they still rabbits. Besides its not like guinea pigs are gonna die out anytime soon, they're classed as least concern on the IUCN redlist.

Humans have simply adapted to eat what is available to survive, although that doesn;t really apply today, Peruvians have been eating guinea pigs for years, its normal, guinea pigs are native to Peru and so they have taken advantage of that.

Answer 9

i sorta agree...

but we also eat cows, chicken, horses, rabbit, fish, and lots more...

its all cruel in one sense, but we also need correct nutrition and stuff, and since we're at the top of the food chain...

i think its different for us since guinea pigs are our pets...

if someone had a cow as a pet, not just on a farm, they wood think they shoodnt be eaten...

Answer 10

PET guinea pigs should not.

However, if you're trying to find food and you see a wild guinea pig, go for it.  

Answer 11

I agree that eating guinea pigs is mean!  People used to tease me all the time that they were going to eat my guinea pigs... I didn't find it funny at all.  If someone had eaten my guinea pigs, I would have...  I don't know what I would have done...

Answer 12

yes you are very right!

Answer 13

Eating your pet guinea pig would be a bit cruel and strange but in some cultures guinea pigs are farmed for food.  That is no different from us eating chickens.  

Answer 14

i think that it is mean but if that was so it would be just like killing a cow or a chicken....so we can eat

Answer 15

Yeah that's kinda weird to even want to eat a guinea pig...I could honestly say never thought of them as food.  However, keep in mind it's normal in some countries to bugs, cats, dogs, horses and snakes.  So what's normal for some is weird to others.

Answer 16

The guinea pigs aten in Peru are not used as pets, they're bred as food.  No different then cows and pigs in the US, except they take less space to raise.  Cruelty would be in how they were treated while living, not in the act of actually eating them.

I personally would not kill/eat a cavy.  But, to each his own.

Answer 17

Yes! Nobody should eat animals. its cruel. i am trying to cut down on meat myself. BTW, who WOULD eat a guinea pig? well some people eat goats and snails so, i guess a guinea pig isn't the strangest

Answer 18

YES! eating guinea pigs i horrible and mean!

Answer 19

well...DUH! I think that people should eat something their own size!

Answer 20

I don't eat guinea pigs personally - but I think that is culture more than ethics as I do eat other types of meat.

At the end of the day, all animals are sentient life forms. I don't really see how it is okay to kill and eat one species, but not another?

Answer 21

Yes, you are so right.  I am a vegan so I don't eat any meat.  I can't believe that in South America people eat guinea pigs.  They are so sweet and lovable.  I can't imagine eating them.

Answer 22

No, not at all. A guinea pig is very high in nutrition and from what I've heard, pretty tasty. Are you saying it's perfectly fine for you to eat a cow but impoverished people in Peru can't eat their cavy?