What are vegetarians views on animals eating other animals?

Question

Ye Hala when i was reading the answers above you i was going to add, is the way animals are bred and culled what vegetarians disagree most with, in the way we consume meat.

Answer 1

I do not claim to represent the views of any vegetarian other than myself.

Non-human animals eating other animals is simply in their nature, but I draw an important distinction.  The human race has achieved certain things that no other species on this planet has; a complex world view incorporating a concepts of morality and empathy.

Because humans have these capacities we also have the ability and, in my view, the duty to realise that taking the life of another animal so that we might eat it is selfish, unnecessary, unkind and undesirable.

We can conceive of other animals' desire for self preservation, of their pain or other suffering.  We can also provide for ourselves without the need for meat.  I, personally, conclude that vegetarianism is the correct moral choice.  I also happen to like living this way, I find the thought of consuming meat strongly distasteful.

I was raised a vegetarian, in fact a third-generation vegetarian.  I have had all of my life up to this point to examine the way I was raised, the philosophy and practicality of it.  I have never found a drawback to vegetarianism except in that I consider vegans morally stronger.

Answer 2

Animals are animals and their actions for the most part are dictated by neccesity for survival. From eating to sleeping to sheltering to s*x, the main drive and purpose is for a species to preserve itself. A lion or predator does not merely kill, it is trying to survive. It has no understanding of or is not going through a moral debate about the consequences when killing.. It merely does an act it needs to survive.

I have a problem with the notion that humans, who are biologically animals, have behaviours that have been classified as "unnatural" as if we are not a part of the evolutionary processes that take place in this planet. Aren't we evolved from some animal species that once inhabited the earth? A natural evolution as dictated by nature herself? Isn't the use of tools our defining characteristic as a species? (Homo Sapiens -the Tool Maker) We are not the only one wo does so. Many primates use tools though not with the same  sophistication into which we have evolved. Isn't the same ability to use tools also ulitlized in the production of plant food? How is soy milk obtained? How are plant foods harvested? For that matter how is land cleared for planting? How were the seeds sown? How many animals and animal species were dislocated when their natural habitat were converted to farms?  A gun used to hunt is cowardice? I say so is a plow. Hunt animals with bare hands? Go eat a plant off the ground. Fight like a man? Move out of your house built on land that once belonged to animals

I won't debate the morality or immorality of abusive farms practices for the simple reason that there is no debate at all. They sinply have to stop. But I would like to contest the suggestion that one is happy to see a place like KFC blow up simply because I don't agree aith what they do. Is that the moral ascendancy that a vegetarian is suppose to feel? I don't like it, blow it up? You don't eat at KFC, fine, then don't. But don't even suggest that you wanto to see a food source destroyed because you don't agree with the manner by which that food is  obtained. don't even suggest that a meat based diet is unnecessary when you have the choices while most people don't have the same choice. That's arrogance. Live in their shoes before you tell them they are wrong. You can't even leave an opinion alone so you have to report every single one with whom you disagree. It's quite hypocritical to say that people have a choice when you won't allow them here on YA. Otherwise, it's best to live your life and leave others to live theirs.

Humans are omnivores. Even vegetarians are omnivores who choose to eat plant foods exclusively. A dissenting opinion from a single physician (among millions of more qualified scientists, anthropologists, and doctors) does not disprove this fact nor does it make that opinion scientifically valid.

Answer 3

It is natural for them- that is the way of survival for them and they can not live any other way.... no matter how you may think of it as it being like our race eating each other, it is their way of life and we can't change it...

Answer 4

its apart of there natural state to eat meat and they have the stomach acids to actually digest it while we as humans do not thats why meat rots instead people were never meant to eat meat and even though im buddhist it even says so in the bible proverb 12:15 or so its not natural for people to eat animals

Answer 5

It's natural and it's fine. The main problem I have with people consuming meat is the manner in which it is intensively produced. In the wild animals are free and live their life, in contrast animals in the intensive agriculture business are confined, tortured, docked, muelsed, debeaked, castrated, and killed all without anesthetic.

Animals in the wild only consume what is necessary to survive, people over eat meat and animal products.

Also wild animals don't have any other options, humans do. We can survive on a vegan or vegetarian diet, many animals can't.

Answer 6

Humans are born herbivorous.The teeth, intestines etc etc are for vegetable consumption.Animals have their body and instinct for eating other animals, sometimes even in the same species like fish etc.We are humans and not animals.

Answer 7

I don't think it's avoidable, to be honest.

Unlike humans, most carnivorous animals don't have any other options, and don't know of any other ways to live.

Answer 8

the word for that is rumentants not sure of the spelling only heard the word pronounced.

animals eating animals that is ok in the wild where the bear needs food but to grind it uup and make them eat it taht is another story.

this is one of the areas that people question about "mad cows disease" there are other animals also with the potential to get the same option with other names for the animal that has that same problem but is not a cow. I am not about to try to pronounce or say the word but here is a word that you can look up and find our more about Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Answer 9

I have no problem with it. They are not taking millions of animals and torchering them. That is what I don't like

Answer 10

reading your question and edits i'm alittle confused on what exactly your asking but i'll try to respond...

as far as humans being born omnivores and lions hunting.... yes we CAN eat meat and it is natural for us to do so as omnivores... HOWEVER... the issue here (for me mostly anyway) is the PROCESS of getting that meat to our table these days... are we out hunting and only using what we need ot survive???? FAR from it... we're using factory farms to get as much meat as quick as possible... not only is it a huge drag on the environment and giving a good portion of this country diseases like heart disease.. but it's inflicting a great amount of suffering and pain on these animals... they feel pain the same as we do... the torture taht goes on in these factory farms is far from necessary... especially here in this country,  we CAN eat meat, we definately don't NEED to... and considering the stress the animals are under and the horrible diets they consume, we're a lot better off not eating them for our health as well.. there is NOTHING natural about producing animals in this slaughterhouses.

as for eating other animals? i don't see the difference between a puppy and a piglet, a cow and a cat.... i don't understand "animal lovers" who coo over there kitties and puppies while chomping on burgeres... they're the same thing... they all feel pain.. .they're all created teh same... they all need us to care for them not abuse them...

Answer 11

We as a species do not need to consume other animals for survival. We do so because we are either ignorant to or chose to ignore what we are doing to ourselves and our environment, not to mention the fact that we have laws against animal cruelty that seem to be completely ignored when it comes to the livestock that is breed, and abused in the process, just to feed people who are unwilling to sacrifice an urge to eat meat.

Yes it is in our nature to eat meat because we have been doing so for centuries, but now in today's world where is the morality in treating all creatures with respect and not causing unneeded harm to them.

Not all animals in the wild do not have the option to refrain from meat nor do they have the higher intelligence to realize what they are doing is painful to other beings.

Answer 12

Heaps of people are vegetarians and vegans because of the cruelty behind it.  In some places the cruelty is continuous, not just happening every now and then.

And wild animals don't farm and breed animals to be killed, which humans do.

Humans are also aware of what they are doing to the environment by eating animals, while animals don't.

Answer 13

We support animals (e.g. pets like dogs and cats) feeding on other animals. Although non-humans are blessed with a complicated brain capable of feeling and intelligence, they still do not have the capacity for empathy the way humans do.

Answer 14

Why is it ok for animals to eat other animals but not humans?

1.) Because its a fair game in nature. And to shoot an animal with a gun is pathetic. Fight like a man.

2.) Because humans can think. We don't need animals to survive. We have a choice. That is the difference

And 3.) Because animals only tend to kill when they are hungry or are in danger. Humans, however, either kill large masses of animals, or do it for a sport. This is not natural, by any stretch of the imagination, and is the reason a vast majority of animals are extinct.

Here is an interesting quote for the non-believer... "Although we think we are one, and we act as if we are one, human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores." - William C. Roberts, M.D., editor, American Journal of Cardiology.

Answer 15

Thats just how it occurs in nature. It should not matter to vegans/vegetarians. There is nothing anyone can do.

Answer 16

I have no problem with the natural food chain.

Humans are, in my opinion, so distanced from the natural food chain we are basically not even a part of it.  We don't hunt down, kill, and eat animals with just our fangs and claws.  Plus eating animals is completely unneccessary for our survival or health.

Answer 17

I love meat! Yummy, delicious meat!

Answer 18

you've already gotten many opinions that i agree with, especially hala's.  this is my opinion in a nutshell:

-many animals REQUIRE meat to live and we do not

-animals don't breed mass numbers ofother animals for the purpose of slaughter

-animals have not developed a sense of morality/ethics as we have

-animals don't kill more than they need, and if they do another animal will likely consume what is left, so nothing is wasted

humans are very out of touch with nature.....instead of hunting animals naturally, we keep massive herds of them in repulsive conditions, then shove them into a slaughterhouse where they are inhumanely killed, package them in a clean looking container that soaks up all of the blood, season them, tenderize them, and cook them...then we cut them up with a knife and fork, chew, and swallow.  how is that NATURAL!?  if there is another animal who obtains their food in this manner, please let me know.

Answer 19

its natural for animals to eat animals- survival of the fittest is how it is out there in the wilderness

Answer 20

Have you ever seen people protesting lions, or tigers for eating other animals? I agree it would be some sight.

But most vegetarians I know do at least attempt to understand nature (more so than most meat eaters I have met), this is why we have become vegetarian, and why we wouldn't stop the natural processes for anything. Going to a grocery store and purchasing meat is not a natural process.

Vegetarians become so for many reasons, not just animal welfare. You need to understand this first before making general assumptions about all vegetarians. I personally do it for health, and could care less about you eating any diet you prefer. Although I will add, I would love to see many more vegetarians in this world, and a lot less animal suffering;  views I have adopted since becoming veg*n more than twenty years ago, not the reason behind my choice.

Answer 21

Nature designed some animals to be carnivores as a way of maintaining a natural balance.  By and large, carnivores don't hunt their prey out of existence (like humans do - if we keep overfishing the oceans, we will collapse the ecosystem sooner rather than later.)  Nature also designed those carnivores to *require* meat.  Why would a vegetarian, who ostensibly cares about animals, want to deny a lion the only meal that will keep him alive?

Humans are not a part of the food chain.  We opted out of that when we began keeping animals in intensive confinement and raising them for our food.  We are most certainly biological omnivores, but we've proven that we can thrive eating a plant-based diet.  So, if some people choose to for any number of reasons, why do you feel compelled to try to come up with inconsistencies?  Live and let live.  Nobody is threatening your right to a burger.

Answer 22

That's nature.

I don't like it but how can you teach a lion to eat veges? never gonna happen and it would  be unhealthy for a real carnivore.

Since humans are omniores, it is healthier for us to eat no meat, we don't need animals for any part of our lifestyle. And I've never seen a lion abuse it's food, just catch it and kill it, at least the animal has a real life which is the main problem I have with meat, the way the animal is treated before it arrives all nicely packaged in the supermarket.

I don't like the thought of any animal being killed, but at least real carnivores have a real reason.

Answer 23

well carnivores dont have a choice.....but what about omnivorous animals that eat meat...i can garuntee evn if there was veggies to eat they would prefer the meat as it gives most calories compared to veggies...iv never seen an omnivorous animal turn down meat and take veggies instead

may i also state that...if you feed a lion till its full..and doesnt want anything to eat....you go in the cage with it...it will still kill you then just leave you...compassionate??? i think not...so why do veggies say animals are compassionate?

Answer 24

Doesn't bother me one bit.

I'd rather an animal die by bullet then be ravaged by a predator. Hunters usually kill off predators and then take it upon themselves to keep the herbivorous population in check.

If people went out and killed their own meat and harvested it from wild game I would barely ever think about it.

The vast majority of flesh that is consumed in the developed world comes from animals that were forced to live their entire lives in urine and f***s. The deaths of these animals are always extremely stressful and suspenseful and a significant percentage are conscious during the process of being bled out.

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/fact...

A person would have to be insane or delusional to deny that being killed in any way in nature is not far more desirable or less undesirable than living and dying in a lifeless dump of a factory or feedlot.

Answer 25

They do it because they have to, not because they like the taste of it. Humans can go and buy some tofu, and animals in the wild can't.

Answer 26

animals dont know the difference between right and wrong, we have evolved enough so that we know muder is wrong. their meat eating is for suvival, ours isnt. its fine for them to do it, its sad if you see it, but it allows the predator to live.

Answer 27

That's normal behavior for certain animals and it would be very unrealistic to think otherwise.

Human beings have the option about making chioices about things like that. Animals have little or no choice.

Answer 28

Some animals eat meat because they have to for survival, that's natural.

Difference is, humans do not need meat for good health unlike some animals.

When we decide to eat something, we have a choice.

I am opposed to the appalling conditions in factory farms. Fast food chains don't care about the animals. In fact, I question as to whether fast food outlets serve real food, to be honest it's just c**p. A chicken that is kept in cramped conditions is hardly going to produce 'good quality' meat is it?