Vegetarians dont really help animals at all..?!?

Question

I have this theory where just not eating meat isnt enough. Still consuming animal by products is just taking up all of the cows/chickens/sheeps ability to produce eggs or milk. In simpler terms still consuming these products makes the animal having to keep producing it. Once they cant produce it anymore they become meat. What do you think of this dilemma? Is my theory correct?

Answer 1

I think vegetarians help the animals plenty.

Vegans contribute to the meat industry too you know. When you drive or ride in vehicles, the transmission and brake fluids, tires, and antifreeze all have ingredients from rendered animal parts. Are you sure you're using vegan ink? Ink has ingredients from rendered animal parts. The list goes on. The meat industry sells the carcasses of animals to the rendering plants. They don't give them away. Euthanized pets end up there too.

Until you're perfect you've no business pointing out the perceived faults or shortcomings of others. That's called hypocrisy. Calling someone out for contributing to the meat industry while you yourself is contributing to the meat industry is hypocrisy defined.

Answer 2

what animal products you put into, onto or around your body is a decision that most people who become vegetarians think long and hard about. i stopped eating meat because i didn't like it, the animal welfare concerns came months later. now i buy products not tested on animals, and mostly not made with animal products. also, there are things that are animal products that most people don't think of off the top of their heads, like honey and silk.

Answer 3

Hmmm, I think it all depends. I try to help the animals, and this is what I do.  I'm a vegitarian, and not vegan, so I dring milk and eat eggs, but only on one condition.  All the things I eat with eggs in it are made at home with eggs from my chickens.  Chickens lay eggs weather or not we use them.  I don't give them hormones to make them lay more eggs, I just gather the ones they have left me.  I also know that they are treated good, and fed good, since they belong to me.  

Also, I drink soymilk most of the time, and have it in my cerial.  But when I'm cooking at home, making cake, pancakes, etc, then I use organic milk.  I know that the cows are treated better this way, and It makes me feel better.  

It's does not solve the problem, but I think it's a lot better than doing nothing at all.

Answer 4

Any effort or change makes a difference.

Whether its a person that only eats fish, to a vegetarian, or one who is vegan and chooses not to eat dairy or egg products.

Whatever action you take, makes a difference. Something is something..

Answer 5

I totally disagree with you.  The rest of the world can do whatever they want but I am a vegan so I am not taking part in animal cruelty.  Every person who is a vegetarian saves 100 animals from being slaughtered.  It is a fact.

Answer 6

i am vegetarian and i do agree with you. your theory is to me suggesting all vegetarians should be vegans. also remeber many veggies are veggies for a no. of reasons. i do it personally because i feel it more morally correct however i do eat cheese milk and eggs. think about though you have to get a cow pregnant for it to produce milk, that calf is then removed, basically like an abortion but done differently, same with eggs, minus teh removal of the chick. but you are correct it is not actually helping the animals in any way.

Answer 7

Dont foget that some vegetarians aren't veggies because of the animals. I dont like the texture smell or taste of it.

Some are veggie for health reasons.

Answer 8

Being vegetarian is enough to help, because vegetarians save up to 90 animal lives a year. Also, some people don't have the willpower to be vegan so they at least try to be vegetarian...It is true that vegan is better (for the animals...for the environment...and for people's health,) but being vegetarian is enough to make a difference.

Answer 9

Jon G, I had a glance at your website but quickly realized that it was absolutely ridiculous. Claiming that VEGETARIANS are murderers is just a way of pointing the guilt to somebody else. By consuming animal products YOU are supporting the meat industry, which means you are supporting the inhumane torture and murder of millions of animals. That website claims that we are supporting the murder of free-roaming animals such as mice and possums in grain fields who are accidentally killed by machinery which is completely false. I am sure it happens, just like how animals die after we take their trees for timber. But the difference is that the meat/dairy/egg industry treats animals INHUMANELY on purpose for maximum profit. They cut off any outlet of their natural urges just for a few more bucks. Stop trying to throw the blame at us. It’s a weak, weak point.

Now, to the question at hand.

I agree that not eating meat is enough, or at least for me it isn't, but that is MY personal belief. I do not blame any vegetarians for “not helping enough”.  They still made the conscious decision to help, which is great. It dosen’t matter how much you are helping as an individual, even if it is just a little bit. We all know that a little bit goes a long way. Even as a vegan, I know my personal contribution to lessen the suffering of animals isn’t that much, but it is still something.

It is true that dairy cows and hens are later sent to be made into meat after they are not useful laying eggs or producing milk. And by consuming these products, vegetarians are technically contributing the demand for those products. However, there are different classes of vegetarianism. This particular class does not completely stop contributing to the suffering of animals through their diet. That’s why many people are vegan and do not consume any animal products at all. But it's not for everybody.

We're not trying to create some war between vegetarians and vegans and how much either of them contribute to lessen the suffering of animals. People are different, and not everybody has a lifestyle that allows them to stop eating animal products all together. It's exepensive and takes time. I completley respect vegetarians and what they are doing.

Answer 10

less money to the meat industry is less money to the meat industry. yes we could be giving even less money, but that doesnt completely discount the contribution.

personally, i stopped at a vegetarian who barely ever has any dairy or egg insted of going all the way to vegan because that is the level of effort i am comfortable with putting forth.

Answer 11

Vegetarians help, but they still contribute to the problem.

Answer 12

You are correct in a sense, which is why many vegetarians become vegan and don't eat eggs or drink milk.

But it takes a lot less animals if all you want is the byproducts.  For example, just a few cows could satisfy the milk needs of an entire town for a long time.  But if that town wants beef, they are going to need thousands of cows.  Slaughtering the ones that were used for milk will provide almost no beef.

Answer 13

Michael H is somewhat right. the animals that are raised specifically for milk and eggs are not used for meat. you d  think so, less waste, more profits for the big bad meat industry, but the animals are usually too old or not fat enough to get the amount of meat per pound that they are looking for. im sure some are but not the majority of these animals are going to tables. although i think id feel better if they were, so that they were used entirely rather than twice as many animals being killed for two different evils.

also i agree with Sully, many vegetarians limit their intake of animal products. vegetarianism is a halfway house for those transitioning, or those who cant take the full leap.

i see where your theory is coming though from but you should have phrased it slightly differently so as not to "ruffle as many feathers". maybe more as a discussion than an accusation.

but it does help spark thoughts.

Answer 14

"The livestock sector emerges as one of the TOP most siginificant contributors to the most serious environmental problems.............land degradation, climate change, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution and loss of bio-diversity.  The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with great urgency.

*Greenhouse gases - Animal-based agriculture contributes 18% more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere than All forms of transportation combined.

*Farmland - the amount of land requried to produce just one 1/4 lb beef burger can produce 36 lbs of potatoes and for every acre used to grow food /veggie for humans there are 14 acresgrowing hay for feed.

*Pesticides - Reasearch confirms that degenerative diseases and birth defects are due to the consumption of refined foods, excessive animals fat, animal products and the chemicals that are required to grow the mountains of grain needed to feed cattle in who's flesh it accumulates.

*Famine - the amount of corn and oats required to produce one 8oz. beef steak could fill the bowls of over 45 people."

well here is some info for you to help you decide.

Answer 15

No, I'd say it is incorrect. Most vegetarians limit animal products, also. I limit myself on eggs, milk, and cheese. And what about the animals that just get slaughtered for food? Aren't we helping those animals? Yes, we are.

Answer 16

First of all, Michael H, dairy cows most certainly are slaughtered and made into meat. Once they are old and can't get pregnant anymore or produce anymore milk, they are slaughtered. Then they get made into ground beef and that ground beef is combined with more ground beef from other cows. Then they sell it to fast food places like McDonald's and that's what your hamburger is. Even though not all the cows were healthy, they don't tell you that. They don't put "used up dirty cow" on the ingredients list...that would be stupid on their behalf! And as for laying hens, they too get slaughtered when they can't produce enough eggs. So you are very wrong when you say that dairy cows and laying hens aren't slaughtered.

Anyways to answer your question, I think that even though vegetarians still support the egg and dairy industry, that they are still helping. However in my opinion I actually think that the dairy industry is equal to the meat industry. By supporting the dairy industry, they are supporting the veal industry as well. Dairy cows are constantly pregnant so they can produce milk. But when the baby is born, and they have no need for it, they ship it off to a veal farm. So those who drink milk are supporting all this. But I think that each person should just do the best they can. Vegetarians are still helping because there is this little thing called Supply & Demand, it's basically the entire foundation of our economy. Since vegetarians are demanding less meat, then they will slowly start producing less meat. Then maybe we'll see some of the pollution from factory farms go way down and less animals will be slaughtered. Sure we've got animals being slaughtered over in the egg and dairy industry, but it's great that they're helping at least one part of it. So I think they are very helpful, but maybe it just doesn't appear that way. Anyways hope I helped and good luck :)

Answer 17

on some levels, yes.

Answer 18

Albert Einstein once noted that, ―We still do not know one thousandth of one per cent of what nature has revealed to us.‖ In spite of unprecedented scientific discoveries, technological advances and EXPLOITATION, we human beings still have much to learn from Nature. All life on Earth is interconnected. Species cannot survive without their natural habitat and, in turn, the latter is being impacted by their disappearance, finally human end.

Answer 19

I do see your point. I don't know where the animals go once they are done being exploited and used, but I doubt they go to a loving home or back in their natural habitat. I actually became a vegan after becoming a vegetarian. My point of view was not quite like yours. I thought by becoming a vegan would help minimize and ultimately eliminate as much as possible, anything that I use or consume that involves harming animals.

Anything that decreases the amount of any animal suffering I support, whether someone is a pescitarian, vegan, or vegetarian, is great, even if they don't do it for animal welfare, it is still progress and it helps.

Knowledge is power.

Answer 20

Your theory needs a bit of work

Dairy cows and layer-hens do not go for meat.

There are a lot of issues with both dairy and egg industries, but saying vegetarisn "don't really help" is a tad insulting.

Thanks for pointing out that vegetarians don't really help, i'll add it to my list of "vegan" insults.

Which currently stands at this :

I'm lazy, selfish, dont' care for animals, lacking knowledge, have no self control, I'm "fake",

ignorant, unable to "do vegan because its too hard", i'm also vegetarian because i want the attention, I'm not that passionate about the cause, I make excuse after excuse, I'm lying to myself and I'm not very educated on animal cruelty and just a wanna-bee.

Answer 21

Lots of people become vegetarians before being vegan. That is the case with me. And vegetarianism certainly helps the issue. If everyone was a vegetarian, the amount of animals they use for food would dramatically decrease, because they only need them for milk and eggs, etc. Vegetarians do help. Vegans just help way more.

BTW, I love Tokio Hotel ;).

Answer 22

Yes,that's why factory farming needs to stop,but sadly,until everyone gets the cruelty that goes on to feed the meat eaters,that's what we are stuck with,no matter how much we protest.

Sadly,meat eaters wont or cant think about the meat they eat,they just eat it with no conscience or care for the poor tortured animals.

They take calves away from the cows moments after they are born to get the milking cow back in the milking parlour for the glory of the pound,or dollar etc.

Sad isn't it?.

yes,your theory is right.

The only way to change the cruelty and torture is for everyone to go veggie,but this is the real world,and that wont happen.

Hope that helps.:):)

Answer 23

Being a vegitarian isnt always about HELPING ANIMALS,

though most of the time it is.

By being a vegitarian, is just not wanting to eat meat, im a vegitarian because i dont feel comforable with the animal having to be slaughtered for me to eat.

Ok?

Answer 24

Vegetarians DO help animals. Vegetarianism is lessening demand for meat and it's products.

There is no such thing as a cruelty free lifestyle so do as much as you are comfortable with. Do what you can.

There's no such thing as a 100% cruelty free diet. Sadly, suffering of some kind is inevitable in anyone's diet.

[edit] Veggie bashing is going on here guys, reading some of the answers here, maybe it's time to give up and have a steak. Gosh.

[edit 2] Michael is referring to the ''holier than thou'' attitudes of some people on this forum. Vegetarians are often made to feel as though they are not ''doing enough''. Even though I went vegan eventually, I was an ovo lacto for years, so I don't like condescending comments.

Answer 25

some belive that, which is why they become a Vegan, and don't cosume milk or egg products, some don't belive it, or belive its the lesser of evils compairing to eating meat.

Answer 26

This question/rant does not help animals, it actually does quite the opposite.

Answer 27

If you look at meat consumption statistics, it has actually grown over the last five years. That means an increase in the number of animals killed for food. So on that level, vegetarians do not, as a group, save animals from slaughter. As individuals, the most realistic claim vegans or vegetarians can make is they do not contribute to the slaughter of animals for food. And there is no indication that the world or at least the 85-95% of the world population that eats meat is willing to give up that choice any time soon.

Animal by products are  just that, by products, in this case of the meat industry. If no one uses leather, there would be no leather industry, but the animals form where the leather come would still be slaughtered for food. If no one uses gelatin, then there would be no gelatin industry. But again, the animals will still be killed for food. But again, since veganism adherents are asuch a minority, and there is no indication that that nmber would be making dramaric increase any time soon, their impact as a group is still minimal or insignificant.

Answer 28

Vegetarianism saves 100 animals per year you vegan no-it-all  !!! Sorry but a lot of people are vegetarians because it will benefit their health and with the extra touch of helping out animals. Veganism is hard to follow and it's kind of hard to insure your getting everything you need so seriously leave vegetarians alone.

Answer 29

Genetic dead ends.  Ever seen a totally vegan civilization?  Hmmmm.....you want to help the animals have them stop being made out of tasty meat.  Besides, for all the bad press meat gets soy is being studied and some pretty nasty things are coming to light about it... JUST LIKE MEAT.