dogs eat meat

[tsukikage]

Why are we humans cursed with this deluded view of life?
I took Ahab and Becca out to the run to go to the bathroom, and there was a small bird, sparrow-sized, within Ahab's reach. Now, I don't remember what breed Ahab is exactly, but he's a hunting dog, and Ahab ran straight to it. The bird began to fly upwards, and then I couldn't see it, so assumed it got away, until I saw Ahab's mouth moving strangely. I knew that Ahab had the bird in his mouth, so I yelled at him and threw the contents of my glass of water onto him, hoping to scare him into dropping the bird, which he finally did. After struggling to get the dogs in the cage without causing further harm to the bird, I closed the gate and watched the bird shuddering on the ground, and I was horrified. I don't know what I'll do if it's dead when I go to take the dogs back in...
But the thing is, this is nature. This is what happens. Why am I so angry at Ahab. The only vegetarian dogs are ones with vegetarian owners, so what do I expect. Wolves eat meat, and eating meat requires killing animals. I need to learn to accept this.
It's really true, though. Western society is just fine eating meat as long as there is no indication that it was once an animal... If we're not going to stop eating meat, we need to at least stop deluding ourselves into thinking our hamburger was picked off a bush.

Comments

[belindabird.livejournal.com]

I kind of think that this act of nature type stuff is something a lot of militant vegans don't seem to want to accept. Like, they'll get on your case for killing our animal friends and eating them, and it's like they don't understand that that's how nature works. I'm all for stopping animal cruelty on farms that produce meat, but it's not fair to condemn other people for doing something that happens in nature all the damn time. Should lions stop killing and eating gazelles because it's just oh-so-mean to the gazelles? It's annoying.

And yes, I'm very liberal, I just don't see a natural process as something we need to be protesting. Just like religion, people need to make their choices about what they eat and not get on people's cases for not making the same choice.

[robotphobic.livejournal.com]

I think that the difference here is that humans have the physical and mental capacity to eat without taking life, whereas predatory animals do not. Furthermore, we have the ability to understand that killing unnecessarily is immoral; wild animals do a good deal of things that most people would consider damning in other humans-- rape, theft, abandonment, murder, etc. While it's unfair to pass judgment on a dog for blindly obeying its predatory instincts, I do believe that, as self-aware creatures with senses of morality and digestive systems well-suited to vegetarianism, we are in a rather different situation.

Furthermore, I'd like to point out that the kind of predation that occurs in nature is extremely different from the modern meat industry, which daily forces suffering in both life and death upon millions of innocents. Many meat-eaters are very dodgy when it comes to this side of things; they're generally aware that there is, as you put it, "animal cruelty on farms that produce meat," but I truly don't think that most people are aware of the extent of the suffering that these animals endure. For example, did you know that the United States doesn't have legislation dealing with the safe transport of animals to slaughterhouses? Animals are frequently transported over long distances in open trucks in winter, resulting in thousands of deaths by freezing every year. On the farms themselves, animals are frequently subjected to other cruelties, including the shoving of chickens into coops too small for them to turn around in, in which they have nowhere to stand but wire grating which deforms their feet over time. These situations are -not- the exceptions to the rule; they're actually more of the norm, and purchasing meat does support these industries and their practices. Unlike wild animals, whose prey is generally allowed to run free until its death (from which it usually has at least a small possibility of escape), humans' victims frequently suffer from birth until their untimely and inescapable deaths. I know this isn't what meat-eaters want to hear, and I'm certainly not passing judgment on those who are simply in the dark about all of this, but I do think that more people need to be aware of the suffering of which they spare themselves the sight. If you want more information, please go to GoVeg.com (http://www.goveg.com). You can also get information at that site regarding the impact of meat consumption on deforestation, starvation, etc.; vegetarianism has many benefits for the environment and society, in addition to the moral and health ramifications.

I'm sorry to be politically incorrect here, but all of this needs to be said. I realize that it's a bit taboo to pass judgment on anything these days, but frankly, if meat consumption is to be treated with the immunity we grant to religions, I'd like to state for the record that I would also strongly oppose any religion whose practice necessitated the taking of life.

[belindabird.livejournal.com]

I understand where you're coming from, and I realize that the practice of animal mistreatment is quite prevalent in the meat industry. I also agree with many of the Vegan pursuasion in that these conditions need to be remedied in some legal fashion. However, I disagree that the act of consuming meat constitutes a moral trespass simply because we can choose between meat and vegetables and survive whether or not meat is included in our diets.

My comparison to religion had more to do with the nature in which people of a particular mindset often go about getting their ideas across. While you seem like a perfectly rational person and I was interested in reading your reply, I have also been confronted by Vegans with a really confrontational attitude, asking me how I feel about "killing and eating our animal friends!!", just as I've been confronted by some more fervent Christians (even at my workplace) asking me if I've "found Jesus yet." The reason that this upsets me is because it assumes that I'm making an incorrect choice in either matter, and that to me is insulting. I admire people for their convictions, and I know going vegan isn't an easy thing to do because it's much more difficult to try and get enough of all the vitamins one needs on a daily basis. However, when people try to pass their convictions off on me and assume because I made a different choice that it's the wrong one, then I tend to not take them seriously.

So anyway, I guess it all boils down to free will. I'm not wrong for making my choice, and you're not wrong for making yours, and we'll each experience our own benefits or consequences because of them.

Thanks for the link though, I'll go read it when I get the chance :)

[robotphobic.livejournal.com]

I truly do understand where you're coming from, and it's always nice to run into intelligent people with different opinions. While I do believe very strongly in vegetarianism, I also respect your right to disagree; a few years in the Bible Belt taught me that diversity is a beautiful thing. ;) Your journal entry suggests that you've given the animal rights issue a good deal of thought in the past, as have I; I don't mean to waste your time dragging us through a conversation I'm sure we've both had dozens if not hundreds of times. I'm fairly non-confrontational, and therefore generally avoid the Meat Issue altogether when possible, but given that Tsuki hinted at considering vegetarianism or veganism, I felt compelled to see both sides of the debate represented. I hope it didn't seem like a personal attack; it truly was not intended as such.

I do think I should clarify my point about religious zealots and sacrificing, however; from your entry, I think you misunderstood me a bit. While I am aware that traditional rituals incorporating animal sacrifices were done with some modicum of respect for the life being taken, and while I understand that this was not the original focus of your comment, the sacrifices were still acts in which humans forced unwilling creatures to die for their concepts of right and wrong, which I just can't condone. The meat issue has some obvious similarities, and it was from there that I drew my comment.

At any rate, you seem pleasantly rational yourself, and it's always nice to see people who know how to agree to disagree. Hope I didn't offend.

[belindabird.livejournal.com]

no offense taken, I'm also happy to find someone else to talk rationally about something which can be a real hot-button issue sometimes.

I think the only reason I focused on the animal sacrifice issue was because just that morning I had read an article about practitioners of the Santeria religion (which is a mixture of a native African tradition and Catholicism which happened when slaves were brought over to the caribbean). Part of that faith includes animal sacrifice, most famously chickens, but as I understand sometimes goats and the like also. The article was about a Santerian priest who raised and provided animals for the sacrifice, which would have been okay except for the fact that the animals were living in squalid conditions, were being fed incorrect food, and some were even dying. I think what I gained from this article was the idea that it wasn't the animal sacrifice itself which was considered bad, but the fact that the animals, which in their position were to be honored for their role, were instead treated horribly and allowed to suffer in life. I'm not personally a believer in animal sacrifice but I can understand how it can be powerful for adherants to religions which practice it.

Anyway, off to work now :)