We bred dogs specifically to love people and to be expressive in an innately human way, so it feels wrong to kill them. Cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. were bred for food. There’s less betrayal if the idea was always to eat them.
Cows are not bred only to supply meat, they supply labor to till fields and provide manure for crops. The dog breeds used for food in those regions are bred specifically for food, no different than current domesticated animals. Its the lack of that understanding and diminishing the work that other domesticated animals do that cause the problem. Hell there are plenty of studies that show pigs are smarter than dogs, we use them for organ transplants and stuff. You can legitamately argue pigs are more innately human than dogs are.
Pigs don’t have expressive faces, built-in emotional understanding of humans, and, most importantly, infinite affection. Horses supplanted cows as farm… workhorses, which severely altered our perception of them in the west. It’s a marketing issue.
Emphasis on the west. In eastern culture, cows are still used (e.g cows in india are considered sacred). Hell, an example of a cow that was originally not bred for consumption is the wagyu, a highly sought after piece of meat. But of course, as westerners, apparently we disregard that fact…
In 1868, Englishman Edward Charles Kirby established the first slaughterhouse in Kobe, and in 1869, a sukiyaki restaurant called “Gekka-tei” opened in Kobe.
I really appreciate your usage of the word “betrayal” here, I think it’s incredibly apt.
but do you think this makes any moral difference? or that it would matter at all to the being having their throat slashed or thrashing in a gas chamber?
Not really, I’m vegetarian out of preference but I get where people come from. I’ve offered the truth of the matter, irrespective of my feelings on it.
I agree. I still eat shrimp and some fish. The fish bother me, but not enough to stop eating them, and the shrimp don’t bother me cause they’re basically underwater crickets.
For example killing an elephant is worse than killing a chicken. And everyone draws the line somewhere already (unless you’re fine with eating endangered animals and even cannibalism). It’s just where does your own morality draw the line at what level of creature it’s ok to ask to die for your next meal?
You’ve said quite a bit to this vegetarian-since-you-were-an-egg that I processed well over a decade ago. I want you, if you don’t mind, to read my other replies and to reread the question I responded to. And with the most belabored sigh that you can imagine, can I say please?
It’s more. Your farm goat is your friend. That wild goat you caught as a baby will be more like a wolf than a dog. The point is really that we didn’t just breed cows to be fatter than previous cows, but also to be nicer to humans just like dogs.
We bred dogs specifically to love people and to be expressive in an innately human way, so it feels wrong to kill them. Cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. were bred for food. There’s less betrayal if the idea was always to eat them.
Cows are not bred only to supply meat, they supply labor to till fields and provide manure for crops. The dog breeds used for food in those regions are bred specifically for food, no different than current domesticated animals. Its the lack of that understanding and diminishing the work that other domesticated animals do that cause the problem. Hell there are plenty of studies that show pigs are smarter than dogs, we use them for organ transplants and stuff. You can legitamately argue pigs are more innately human than dogs are.
Pigs don’t have expressive faces, built-in emotional understanding of humans, and, most importantly, infinite affection. Horses supplanted cows as farm… workhorses, which severely altered our perception of them in the west. It’s a marketing issue.
Emphasis on the west. In eastern culture, cows are still used (e.g cows in india are considered sacred). Hell, an example of a cow that was originally not bred for consumption is the wagyu, a highly sought after piece of meat. But of course, as westerners, apparently we disregard that fact…
TIL
Yes, they do.
No, they don’t.
I think some dogs do but not all breeds. Some dogs are dumb as shit but still awesome in their own way.
I really appreciate your usage of the word “betrayal” here, I think it’s incredibly apt.
but do you think this makes any moral difference? or that it would matter at all to the being having their throat slashed or thrashing in a gas chamber?
Not really, I’m vegetarian out of preference but I get where people come from. I’ve offered the truth of the matter, irrespective of my feelings on it.
What does betrayal have to do with the morality of killing something?
It’s either right or wrong to kill something if you don’t have to for survival.
If you think killing dogs is wrong, then killing cows or pigs should also be wrong.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say there’s a spectrum to this. I’m not going to feel as bad with an ant dying compared to a dog
I agree. I still eat shrimp and some fish. The fish bother me, but not enough to stop eating them, and the shrimp don’t bother me cause they’re basically underwater crickets.
For example killing an elephant is worse than killing a chicken. And everyone draws the line somewhere already (unless you’re fine with eating endangered animals and even cannibalism). It’s just where does your own morality draw the line at what level of creature it’s ok to ask to die for your next meal?
Not sure that an ant is relevant to this discussion, since it’s not really similar to a cow, pig, dog, cat, etc.
Curious to where the line is drawn then? And who determines that?
You’re talking about morality and I’m considering people’s feelings, however convoluted they might be. It’s not a moral issue, it’s marketing.
Is killing a person a moral issue, or is that also simply marketing?
Your food and clothing likely involved slavery directly and murder by less than a degree of separation, you goober. Yes, it’s a marketing issue.
Clothing doesn’t require the death of anyone the same way eating meat does.
One it’s possible to be cruelty free, and the other is not.
Also, if I knew for a fact that a company committed acts of evil, I would avoid them as best I could, just like I do with meat.
Complaining that eating meat is not actually wrong, it’s just marketing, is just a laughable way to look at ethics and empathy.
Lastly, whataboutism is a joke of a defence.
You’ve said quite a bit to this vegetarian-since-you-were-an-egg that I processed well over a decade ago. I want you, if you don’t mind, to read my other replies and to reread the question I responded to. And with the most belabored sigh that you can imagine, can I say please?
Sorry you’re not cute enough, now go into your dungeon, because i really like factory meat.
It’s more. Your farm goat is your friend. That wild goat you caught as a baby will be more like a wolf than a dog. The point is really that we didn’t just breed cows to be fatter than previous cows, but also to be nicer to humans just like dogs.