Is this hypocritical?

Question

I have been having a bit of a debate with my friends and want to get some outside perspective:

Is it hypocritical to say that you don't support factory farming because of the inhumane practices they employ, but you do not have a moral problem with people who hunt their food?

Some think there is a big difference, others think its completely hypocritical. What do YOU think?

Answer 1

i love beef, chicken and pork.

i WON'T eat veal or lamb (saw an expose once).

i don't agree with hunting, but simply because man is taking the natural food supply for nature's predators, then they shoot the predators for getting the livestock.

i'm sorry, but i'd rather have wolves and mountain lions doing what they were meant to do, than a bunch of drunks out shooting anything that moves.

another problem i have with hunting, is referring to it as a "sport". it doesn't match any definition of "sport" that i've ever read. i also understand that there ARE responsible people that need to hunt to help feed their families, but don't refer to it as a sport!!

Answer 2

none of the hunters i know are inhumane.  while the factory farming is mostly done inhumanely.  so totally different.

Answer 3

well inhumane practices are very different from enjoying the sport of hunting

Answer 4

Not really.  Hunting is not nearly as inhumane as the practices that occur on animal industrial facilities.  You should know there's no such thing as killing humanely, so you can only say hunting is less cruel than the packages of meat you see in the stores.  

Answer 5

My biggest problem with hunting is if the animal was killed in a farming area, it has probably ingested an enormous amount of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer during it's happy years of free-range scavenging. Meat is a no-win situation if you are trying to eradicate those things from your diet, and wild game may have even a higher concentration than farm-raised animals.

Answer 6

no i actually think the same way except i feel bad for what the animals are going through but im not against it

Answer 7

Factory farming and hunting are both cruel. Murder is murder.

Answer 8

I'm a vegetarian, but I have more respect for hunters. A good hunter can kill the animal almost instantly, and the animal had a free life before he died.  

Answer 9

hypocritical means two faced or deceptive, so no its not because you are not deceiving anyone.  

Answer 10

I don't think so - Hunting has been around forever and it needs to be done in order to control the animal population can you imagine if there was no hunting we would be overpopulated.  There is no excuse for in-humane treatment of animals though.

Answer 11

We must eat to live.  I actually have a lot of respect for people who "make" their own food - whether it's by gardening or hunting.  I find that the further removed people are from where their food is actually coming from, the less respect they have for all life!

I do not find it hypocritical to support hunting, and not support factory farming.  Then again, that is what I believe in!  

Add: if the predator/prey system is in balance, there is NO need for hunting to control the population!

Answer 12

Not at all. It's one thing to go out and work for your food, but to waddle your overweight self to an all you can eat buffet and scarf down dead animals with total disregard for their lives is another.

Answer 13

Personally I think it's very different thinking about corporate farming and hunting your own food. A side effect from hunting is population control to not let the herd overtake the carrying capacity of the land they live on.

Animals on corporate farms live their whole lives in painful stifling conditions whereas wild animals roam free until they are harvested.

Answer 14

i wont eat anything that doesnt go through a factory then the store? dont know why

Answer 15

Well, obviously there is a difference. And factory farming isn't all inhumane. Besides, since when are animals allowed the same rights as humans? If they are a food source, and they are, treat them as you would a crop.....give them the food and water they need, the space to grow, and treat them well.

Answer 16

well. i do not agree with hunting but I don't see that as hypocritical.

Those people kill and slaughter hundreds of animals a day.

Hunters (I assume as I do not hunt) only kill like 1 and then feed their families with it. They do not make money off of the deer (typically unless theres some deer hunting factory :) ) They do it as a 'sport' and to 'help control deer population' not as a job. Also the animal is not kept in harsh conditions for most of their life. and they are not bred to make more cattle that will then be slaughtered. and they are killed before being slaughtered.

--all what i think as to why this isnt hypocritical but not on actual facts.

Answer 17

not to me

Answer 18

I grew up with a dad that was a hunter because we were poor and hunting fed our family, and I can tell you that he had the utmost respect for those animals. I remember the first time my dad brought home an elk, he asked that we all say a prayer of thanks for this animal that gave its life to feed us. We were taught to not waste and to be grateful for it. In addition, my father took great care to make sure that he got a precise shot to minimize suffering and said he actually teared up a bit when the animal went down.

Now, in my mind, that is one heck of a lot different than factory farming where animals are kept inhumanely, killed inhumanely and nobody gives a rat's behind how those animals feel.

Answer 19

Although hunters have many inhumane practices, I will overlook them for the moment as factory farming is far far worse.  One can only do so much.  

Answer 20

No, I think not think that is hypocritical.  Factory farming is keeping animals unnaturally in deplorable conditions, only to meet a very brutal death.  Hunting is killing an animal in its natural habitat - way more natural.  Sure they use a gun or bow to get animal, but it's alot closer to a predator catching prey than facotry farming is!  No comparison IMO - factory farming is cruel.  I will not knowingly support a factory farm, it makes me sick.   I don't personally hunt but I will eat meat from hunters because the animals hunters take at least had a chance.  Factory farmed animals have NO chance, and live hollow, sickly, sad lives before they are inhumanely transported and killed.  No comparison!

Answer 21

No it is not hypocritical.

The two processes are not related at all.  

Answer 22

I don't think it's hypocritical at all. Most hunters kill humanely, and help keep populations under control.

With factory farming, the animals are kept inside the entire time in generally crowded conditions.

Answer 23

I don't think it is hypocritical.  When you hunt an animal it has a chance to get away and escape.  Predator and prey.  In factory farms the animals have no chance the are raised in tight, cramped, conditions and are ran through like a conveyor belt.  

  

Answer 24

From the animal's point of view:

A life of freedom in one's native environment, and a (hopefully) quick, painless death,

vs.

A life of misery, crammed into a small cage, having body parts removed so that you can't wound your cellmate, being pumped full of chemicals, never so much as breathing fresh air -- all to end in mechanized slaughter.

Seems like a big difference to me.