What the bleep?

Question

I spoke to a casual acquintance this weekend and I mentioned had become a vegetarian, which led to a conversation about how this person's father in law owned a farm and used to do his own butchering, he actually explained how they killed their cows and I couldn't believe it, if a person killed a dog or a cat it would be deemed animal cruelty and they would be arrested or fined. Why is it "ok" in the state and government's eyes for slaughterhouses and private farm owner's to kill animals on a large scale, but not okay to harm more "domestic" animals? Don't misinterpret what I'm saying, I don't think it's okay to harm any animal it just seems like a double standard.

Answer 1

Apathy, greed, and many more things.

Answer 2

If you are an omnivore, you eat all kinds of food - meat, fruit, vegetables, starches etc. As a vegetarian you have made a choice to not consume meat. But let me ask you this, where do you think the meat in the grocery store comes from?

The animals have to killed, the entrails removed, the blood drained before they can be cut up and processed. The most humane way is a quick blow to the brain so the animal has no time to feel anything.

Our ancestors also had to kill animals to survive - they killed deer, rabbit, elk, wild boar etc. Here they had to chase down an animal...at least in the slaughter houses the animal is not running for its life.

Domestic animals are not used for food. But when they need to be put down (old or sick) the same consideration to its psyche is used. The vet will use an overdose of medication; on the farm or ranch, a single shot to the back of the head is a painless way to euthanize a beloved pet.

This is not a double standard, but a method of processing food.

Answer 3

I think that it is excellent that your acquaintance's father in law did his own butchering on his own farm.  That is the way nature intended.  And if a person hunted and killed his own meat (elk, deer, etc), all the better.  

But I am a vegan because that is NOT the way Americans get their meat.  Animals are unnaturally "factory farmed" and the result is a nation of obese people eating hormone loaded animal flesh and milk and eggs at every meal while destroying the environment by polluting the groundwater with animal f***s.

Answer 4

Because you can actually eat cow.  You can't eat cats or dogs because...well...why would you want to.  There are SO many cows and that's what we're supposed to eat, so we eat it :)

Answer 5

It's mostly cultural. Here in America, we consider cats and dogs pets. Chickens and cows are not considered pets. We feel more of an affinity with the wee fuzzy ones than we do to the big ones. In fact, dogs and cats have been kept for protection/work/companionship for a long time.

Cows (the ones we eat) and chickens aren't really good for labor or companionship. So it's "okay" to eat them. In fact, that is the main purpose that they serve. These animals are used for food and nothing else. Additionally, slaughterhouse methods are the most practical and efficient way to produce meat/etc for the population. While I strongly object to it, there are economic advantages for both farmers and consumers. There are no reasons to mash cats into cages and kill them. There's no reason to keep dogs jammed into a warehouse. In short, there is no economic advantage to mass-producing and killing these animals. People who do it do so for "entertainment." It's the motivation rather than the act that makes it so distasteful.

It's just a matter of how we as a culture view them. In Korea, some dogs are eaten. Visit a dog market and you'll see dogs kept in horrible ways. But Koreans distinguish between eating dogs and pet dogs. The same goes for some people and pigs. Some pigs are friends, some are food.

Double standard? Maybe. But since when have humans ever seen anything as 100% black and white? (Look at how many people support the death penalty for murderers.)

Answer 6

You are right.  It is a double standard.  If I want to shoot my dog and eat it, I will regardless of what the authorities say.

Answer 7

i also had a similar experience. i hate it when you bring up if you a vegitarian it actuly seams like people ether 1. argue how your wrong. 2. tell you you dont get enouf protein or 3. tell you a bad story about animals. i think of cows to be just like cats, if i could have a pet cow, i would =] if people knew half the stuff that hapones to them i think they would feel the same. thanks for the question and congrats on being a vegetarian<3Q

Answer 8

It's human need. Farms and slaughter houses provide us with what we need to survive (meat=protein). On the other hand, cats and dogs are considered pets not a necessity in our daily diet. Also, they are loved by everyone.

Answer 9

You can kill a dog without it being illegal. People euthanise animals all the time and it's perfectly acceptable because it's out of compassion for the animal.

I may be completely mistaken but dog meat is legal in most of america. Of course you'll get a buttload of flak from it but if the dog were humanely butchered then it is legal.

edit: thumb down me if you want.. but I did the research and it's true, you can kill dogs and eat them legally in most of America.

Answer 10

i completely agree with you.  think about it.....if a person treated their dogs and cats in the same way cows and chickens are treated by factory farms, they would be arrested.

when people keep puppies in these conditions, for example, it is regarded as a "puppy mill" and the animals are confiscated, the business shut down, and the owner arrested.  WHY is it okay for some animals and not okay for others?!  i will never understand that mentality.  cows, chickens, and pigs think and feel in the same way that dogs and cats do.  just because HUMANS have classified them differently does not mean that they are, in fact, different.

Answer 11

I understand your attempt to view it as an 'animal cruelty' issue, but look at the financial side of it.

Is it profitable? Does it sell?

Is it profitable to slaughter cattle and chickens? Yes.  

Is it profitable (in the US) to slaughter a dog or cat?  No.  

So I think  whether the animal is domesticated or not doesn't apply.  If dog meat sold well at the grocery store, there would be dogmeat slaughterhouses in the US.

That doesn't sound like a double-standard to me.