express my feelings for the mosquito biting me or the crocodile chasing me?

My dog or cat, btw, will not at all be healthy with a vegetarian diet.

"Animal lover" can be understood to be understanding the position in which various species interact with each other, including as food.

This does not mean gratuitous killing. Nor does it mean the exclusion of vegans. But it does mean understanding, not slogans.

Some are just better with barbecue sauce.

Cows--we do 'em a favor eatin' 'em. Shoe leather and steaks is their sole raison d'etre.

general discussion.

I hope you delete this post.

...and made friends with it. It was one of the sweetest animals I have ever had interactions with. He was like a giant black pet dog. He greeted me every day on my morning walk, running over to the fence to nuzzle me, lick my hand and just hang out. It was a herd animal that was lonely and just wanted companionship. My neighbors originally got him to be raised for slaughter but after getting to know him they couldn't do it.

He was a really beautiful soul. He died when some asshole opened the gate to the field he grazed in and he got out and got hit by a car. He was walking towards my house on the side of the hill, likely to visit me.

It was one of the few times in my life I cried.

...I was a big meat eater until I...

1) Worked in a meat processing plant

2) Moved to a rural area and made friends with a goat

3) Made friends with a steer

Number 1 got me off of all processed meats, especially hot dogs.

2&3 made me confront my indifference to the fact that sentient beings who enjoyed my company and welcomed me enthusiastically when they saw me could end up on my dinner table that night.

I reasoned that if I couldn't personally kill it and deal with the reality of death for my sustenance I shouldn't be eating it.

I do just fine with a mostly vegetarian lifestyle, only rarely eating wild caught fish. (I could catch and kill a fish even though I don't.) The only reason I am not 100% vegetarian at this point is that I do all the cooking and my life partner does not want to give up all animal products.

The side benefit is that I was unexpectedly far less stressed and angry after I gave up meat. I suspect that we ingest the fear (adrenaline and other stress chemicals) of the mass slaughtered animals when we eat them.

There is nothing safe or benign about the industrial meat industry. It is a house of horrors filled with death, sadness, stink, cancers, and fear. Work in a meat processing plant some time and get back to me.

With all the very tasty meat alternatives available, I can make any recipe I want and not have to have some animal's untimely demise on my conscience to do it. In essence, I have given up nothing as far as taste and texture and enjoy my food now more than ever.

Yes. We can. If a discussion on the subject is of interest, I'm interested, as this group's perspective is one I'm not terribly familiar with, and I'd love an honest back and forth. If not, I'll respect that and pull back.

Last edited Tue Jan 25, 2022, 02:29 AM - Edit history (2)

Grew up on a farm where I helped raise farm critters and formed an intense attachments to calves & baby piglets.

When those critters matured and were sent to the slaughter house/ abattoir and came back as huge chunks of raw meat being packaged up on our kitchen table, that's when my sister, brother, & I stopped consuming meat.

As a result, we became pale, sickly looking, anemic kids to the point that the family doc prescribed some foul tasting tonic. We could've been fed fish, seafood, & eggs as our protein source but my controlling, asshole father wouldn't allow fish, much less seafood in the house!! Yes, he was THAT BAD; he was a very controlling, unhappy person!!

Gotta hand it to them: my brother & sis are still strict vegetarian. BUT my hubby refuses to go that route. Being a "city kid," he had never been exposed to the loving personalities & tender side of farm critters. I've tried to shame him: "could we kill & eat our pup tonight?"
The reprimands & shaming didn't work; he still wants his red meat; seafood just isn't enough.

I can maintain a monotonous diet; hubby can't. And doesn't want to pursue it either!! Sigh. (Otherwise, he is a very wonderful person & one of the most loving fur-dads in the world - for dogs & kitties.) Btw, our pets need meat too.

Thought: could our cave-dwelling ancestors have survived without eating animals? I know: "when we know better, we do better.". At least some of us.

Btw, the Chinese and Asian cultures are worse than ours when it comes to empathy for animals.

How do people acquire empathy?? That's all it takes to care: empathy.

Nice response.

likely to go vegetarian. I know that's what turned me.


All animals except komodo dragons. I hate komodo dragons.

The thing is that humans can live perfectly well without killing things. It would be different if we had to eat meat to survive. But we don't. And vegetables and rice and beans are so much cheaper than meat. They are so much better for the environment.

I haven't heard a good argument for eating meat yet. It's all empty. People just want to eat meat and they don't want to hear anything different. They simply don't care.