Why are pets treated differently then animals rased for food?

Question

Why are pets treated differently then animals rased for food?

Answer 1

Because people love animals they have as pets and could never think of killing them.  It is too hard for people who raise animals for the sole purpose of being killed for food to get attached to them.  Most of the time these animals are treated humanely - and are well cared for while they are alive. They just aren't socialised by humans like pets are.

Answer 2

Good question, I've always wondered about this too. How can one treat a dog as if it's one of the family, but sit down and eat flesh from a dead pig that they wouldn't have the guts to kill for themselves.

Answer 3

Because the animals raised for food are considered nothing more than money in the eyes of the caretaker, rather than actual living things. A pet is considered part of the family, usually.

Answer 4

umm i would have to say most people that have pets, the pet slowly becomes a part of the family, a companion.

Where as animals people typically eat dont live in the house, dont eat in the house, and generally dont become adopted members of the family.

I am sure lots of people had pet cows, goats, chickens and so on.

Its also important to know where your talking about, in the US we dont normally eat dogs, cats, guine pigs, and such, but in other countries thats fine, and like india they dont eat cows, and other things we do all the time.

Soooo

I guess the only real diffrence between pet and food, is the country you live in, and if a human cares about you lol.

Answer 5

A pet is a companion, it lives in your home and you make a deliberate effort to bond with it. But livestock is not. It lives in the field/barn and is cared for simply to provide better meat. You don't bond with it.

Also, generally pet animals are cuter or smarter than livestock. A cow is not a very cuddly animal, and they're remarkably stupid. A cute, fuzzy little kitten has a completely different appeal.

Answer 6

They are pets, the others aren't.

Answer 7

Because meat is money, and the more care they give to the animals the more it will cost them, so less profit.

People sometimes do not associate the meat in their meal with an animal, that once had a life.

Once the food is packed up in packets for the supermarkets, it generally doesnt look anything like the beautiful animal it once was.

In the UK an other countries we find it disturbing that the chinese and koreans eat dogs and cats as meat in their meal, and they eat guinea pigs in peru.

So I think it depends a lot on culture and the different countries.

In Hinduism, the cow is considered sacred and its protection is a recurrent theme in which the cow is symbolic of abundance, of the sanctity of all life and of the earth that gives much while asking nothing in return. Most Hindus respect the cow as a matriarchal figure for its gentle qualities and providing nurturing milk and its products for a largely vegetarian diet. It holds an honored place in society, and it is part of Hindu tradition to avoid the consumption of beef.

So Hindus think it wrong for people to eat beef as people will think its wrong to eat cats and dogs.

Answer 8

Because pets are typically loved. Animals raised for food is just a product on an assembly line. Keeping care of their well being isn't good for the $$.

Answer 9

Because people get to know their pets, but they never see the animals that are used for food except cut up and packaged.