Haven’t humans always eaten other animals?
In the course of their centuries of existence, humans have done many things, much of which has been good, and much harmful. But the fact that humans have been doing something for a long time doesn’t make it any more justifiable. The rape, enslavement and murder of other humans have been commonplace since the first humans existed and we don’t find them acceptable because of that. Luckily, we have the ability to reflect on our attitudes and change them. Just as happened with the institutionalised slavery of humans, the slavery to which animals are subjected must be abolished. Humans have the capacity to do terrible things; let’s show that we can also improve individually and as a society, consigning all this to the past.
Other animals eat meat, why can’t I?
The behaviour of others can’t justify our wrongdoings. And even less so can we ethically justify our actions by comparing them with those of someone who doesn’t possess the ability to reflect on his or her actions. Other animals (and also human babies, or people with severe mental disabilities) cannot reflect on the consequences their actions have for others. We have that capacity, and therefore the duty to behave with respect towards others. Some animals steal food from each other, kill their babies, eat their partner after copulating… but we don’t consider it acceptable for us to do this, in spite of the fact that other animals do. This, of course, is not to say that our interests are more important in any way. It just points out our responsibilities as individuals to choose a lifestyle that doesn’t involve harming others.
Do you think we should give up eating fish and shellfish too?
Frustrating someone’s interests, by killing, harming or imprisoning him or her, is equally wrong, whether it is done to a human, a cow, a chicken, a lobster or a sardine. What makes something right or wrong is determined by how it affects others. We wouldn’t say that it is wrong to hit a stone, because it doesn’t feel anything. But with all sentient beings, whether they fly, swim, crawl or walk, the case is different. Fish have the capacity to feel, just as other animals do. If someone has interests, these are equally important independent of his or her species, sex or race.
Some people say they are vegetarians although they eat fish or chicken. This makes as much sense as saying that they are vegetarians but eat pigs. If they can feel, don’t put’em on the grill!
Can’t I eat eggs and dairy without harming animals?
Dairy and egg production implies suffering and death for all animals used for the making of these products. Dairy cows are kept constantly pregnant; otherwise, like all mammals, they wouldn’t produce milk. The calf is separated from his or her mother just a few days after birth, so that the milk intended for the calf can be sold for humans. The calf is then killed for meat or converted into another “dairy cow”. When the cow’s milk production decreases, she is killed.
As it is not economically viable to to keep “unproductive” animals, hens are also killed when there is a decline in their egg laying. Besides this, all the male chicks from “laying hens” are killed very shortly after birth, gassed, crushed or simply piled up over each other and binned, as they wouldn’t be as profitable as “broiler chickens” – the hens used to produce eggs are from a different breed from those used to produce “chicken meat”.
Neither cows nor hens can be free if they are being used to produce “food”. Their freedom is limited and their social activities, diet and other habits are altered by the intervention of humans. It is practically impossible to produce something that comes from animals without force and without causing them pain, distress, limitation of freedom, and death.
If we all stopped eating animals, there would be no space to plant enough vegetables!
Farm animals are fed vegetables, mainly cereals and soy. Worldwide, almost half of the production of these is destined to feed farm animals. For each 20 kilos of wheat fed to a cow, only 1 kilo of meat is produced. A piece of land devoted to production of cereals can provide five times more protein than if devoted to meat production, up to ten times more if we produce pulses, and fifteen times if we plant leafy vegetables. Likewise, in the conversion of grain into meat, 96% of the calories are lost. This enormous waste of food means that we would, in fact, need to plant fewer vegetables if we all ate an animal-free diet. Also much water is wasted in the production of meat and dairy. For the production of 1 kilo of wheat, for example, 3,000 litres of water are needed, while the number rises to 30,000 when it comes to beef production.
But it is impossible to make everyone vegetarian. Isn’t the endeavour doomed to failure?
The objective is to save as many animals as possible from death and suffering, so saving many millions, even if not all of them, can’t be considered a failure! Social conventions change very slowly, and, obviously, this also applies to attitudes toward animals. To change the socially accepted understanding of animals as resources is not going to happen in a short time, but neither did it happen in the case of rights for women, for example. Not much more than a century ago, talking about women having the right to vote was something laughable for most people.
This is precisely what happens with the issue of animals’ rights nowadays. But the situation for women has changed, as will the situation for animals. And even if we can say that we are far from living in a society where women are not discriminated against, we can indeed see a clear improvement since the last century. It may be very difficult to save all animals from exploitation and killing, but the situation can improve substantially. If we just consider all the animals exploited for the production of “food”, we can see that an increase in the number of vegetarians will surely save a great number of those animals. There is no reason to stop helping those just because we will not, unfortunately, be able to save others. This also serves to remind us that any possible change starts in ourselves. It is in the hands of each and every one of us to ensure a future where animals are treated as equals.