Can you be a carnivore and care about animals?

ancapailldorcha · 29-08-2020 01:40PM #1

I've seen this cropping up more and more in some discussions online whereby anyone who criticises or condemns animal cruelty will often be met with comments that people who eat meat are either hypocrites or are incapable of sincerely caring about animals.

I eat meat. I'm one of those people who learned to make about half a dozen meals and stopped because that was sufficient. I like meat if I'm going to be honest but I do concede that consuming it is horrible for the environment and morally dubious at best.

I grew up on a sheep farm and we always tried to treat the animals properly. They were vaccinated, checked for parasites, etc but otherwise left alone most days of the year. We'd take them in for winter and they'd be fed silage and meal pellets but that's not a good example of the sort of huge scale meat production you see in more industrialised and post-industrialised countries like the USA and China.

I don't really know then. Is the question of this thread's title valid?

29-08-2020 01:50PM

I think you can.

It's the circle of life. Humans are omnivores.

I endeavour to buy meat that has been hunted rather than meat that has been sent to a slaughterhouse. I could personally never kill the animal myself, but I think it's more humane to have been hunted.

What a lot of vegans/vegetarians fail to grasp is that a large number of animals are killed in order to provide them with their food.

Kylta · 29-08-2020 02:34PM

I like animals, was brought up with a vast array of pets. But I like meat and have no problem eating sheep, cow, pig, deer, fish, etc. I respect anybodys right to abstain or indugle in whatever their beliefs are, has long as they keep their beliefs to themselves and don't try to foist their beliefs on me.
But I often wonder if their was a famine andpeople were starving to death all around, would vegans turn their noses up a meat and fish foods.

1990sman · 29-08-2020 03:14PM

long pig could be back on the menu soon

JasonStatham · 29-08-2020 07:52PM

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I've seen this cropping up more and more in some discussions online whereby anyone who criticises or condemns animal cruelty will often be met with comments that people who eat meat are either hypocrites or are incapable of sincerely caring about animals.

I eat meat. I'm one of those people who learned to make about half a dozen meals and stopped because that was sufficient. I like meat if I'm going to be honest but I do concede that consuming it is horrible for the environment and morally dubious at best.

I grew up on a sheep farm and we always tried to treat the animals properly. They were vaccinated, checked for parasites, etc but otherwise left alone most days of the year. We'd take them in for winter and they'd be fed silage and meal pellets but that's not a good example of the sort of huge scale meat production you see in more industrialised and post-industrialised countries like the USA and China.

I don't really know then. Is the question of this thread's title valid?

What about one of them Lions hunting down a gazelle.

29-08-2020 08:51PM

I source my meat as ethically as possible. I hunt my own rabbit around when and where I can. I fish. I keep animals on my own land and treat them as well as I can. I usually keep my own christmas goose or geese for example. And since I prefer hogget to lamb or mutton I have also been working on keeping them too.

When I buy meat I do the best I can to source it ethically. I do not rush in and buy the cheapest lamb off the shelf from new zealand or buy the best tesco discount chicken nuggets. I have a good relationship with two of my local butchers and I do the best I can to get meat I can trace to ethical farming.

That said I do not refuse to eat badly farmed meat. I hate food waste. Meat waste most of all. I would prefer to go around a room and finish the meat on many peoples plates than see a shred of it go in the bin. And I have tried to teach my kids the same thing. Whether it is meat on their plate - or a rabbit they are petting that I caught and intend to process into meals - I try to instill in them a full respect from where that food comes from. It is not something that comes conveniently packaged on a shelf in a shop for them. It was an animal that lived and died with it's own personality and set of priorities.

SlowMotion321 · 29-08-2020 08:57PM

Veggie / Vegan food is what real food eats!

smellyoldboot · 29-08-2020 08:59PM

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I've seen this cropping up more and more in some discussions online whereby anyone who criticises or condemns animal cruelty will often be met with comments that people who eat meat are either hypocrites or are incapable of sincerely caring about animals.

I eat meat. I'm one of those people who learned to make about half a dozen meals and stopped because that was sufficient. I like meat if I'm going to be honest but I do concede that consuming it is horrible for the environment and morally dubious at best.

I grew up on a sheep farm and we always tried to treat the animals properly. They were vaccinated, checked for parasites, etc but otherwise left alone most days of the year. We'd take them in for winter and they'd be fed silage and meal pellets but that's not a good example of the sort of huge scale meat production you see in more industrialised and post-industrialised countries like the USA and China.

I don't really know then. Is the question of this thread's title valid?

I'm pretty sure they taste better when they've been fed a decent diet and been well looked after. I see no conflict of interest at all.

Bullocks · 29-08-2020 09:03PM

Of course you can. I love meat and love animals.
I farm sheep and beef and wouldn't sleep well at night if I thought they weren't in good health.

Gregor Samsa · 29-08-2020 09:23PM

You can be anything you want to be.

Rubberchikken · 29-08-2020 09:31PM

I love meat even though I actually don't eat that much of it when I stop and think.

But I adore animals also. Other than my kids I just about put up with the humans I come into contact with. I work in the medical field and experience human death on a regular basis. It doesn't phase me in the least.

But the thought of anything happening to an animal greatly upsets me.

I have spoken sternly to people that I have seen being unnecessarily harsh with their dogs. I would never stand by and watch anyone treat an animal unkindly.
Humans tend to bore and tire me.

Animals bring me joy.

Dravokivich · 29-08-2020 09:34PM

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

You can be anything you want to be.

You may grow up to be a fish.

touts · 29-08-2020 09:36PM

I care about animals. But most only exist because they will ultimately be eaten. These animal rights campaigners who seem to think that we should return to having vast herds of cattle and sheep roaming free and happy across the Irish countryside like God intended clearly have no concept of just how stupid and dependent on humans these animals are. 99.99% would starve to death or succumb to disease were it not for the farmers who look after them. So I say give as many of them as possible the best possible existence and then slap them up on my plate.

RandomViewer · 29-08-2020 09:38PM

We don't eat cats and dogs or donkeys, it's usually cruelty to these that make the headlines

andekwarhola · 29-08-2020 09:40PM

Humans are omnivores and we're in a food chain, so no.

If I lived somewhere with apex animal predators, I'd accept that I might get eaten too.

Meeoow · 29-08-2020 09:40PM

I've recently gone sort of vegetarian for health and animal welfare reasons. I still eat fish, but make sure its not farmed fish. I used to buy free range chicken, and the taste of it compared to cheap chickens is day and night.
But as a poster above said, what really is shocking, is people buying a big plate of food, picking at it, then scraping it into the bin.
I just want to shout at them to think of the poor animal that had a sh1t life, then a sh1t death, and ends up in the bin.

ancapailldorcha · 29-08-2020 10:03PM

Meeoow wrote: »

I've recently gone sort of vegetarian for health and animal welfare reasons. I still eat fish, but make sure its not farmed fish. I used to buy free range chicken, and the taste of it compared to cheap chickens is day and night.
But as a poster above said, what really is shocking, is people buying a big plate of food, picking at it, then scraping it into the bin.
I just want to shout at them to think of the poor animal that had a sh1t life, then a sh1t death, and ends up in the bin.

Yeah, I really find food waste to be abominable. I can't remember the last time I discarded meat. If I buy it I always eat it.

s1ippy · 29-08-2020 10:07PM

Meeoow wrote: »

I've recently gone sort of vegetarian for health and animal welfare reasons. I still eat fish, but make sure its not farmed fish. I used to buy free range chicken, and the taste of it compared to cheap chickens is day and night.
But as a poster above said, what really is shocking, is people buying a big plate of food, picking at it, then scraping it into the bin.
I just want to shout at them to think of the poor animal that had a sh1t life, then a sh1t death, and ends up in the bin.

On another note, I defrosted some lamb the other day and thought "this could have been mutton by now".

Uriel. · 29-08-2020 10:09PM

touts wrote: »

I care about animals. But most only exist because they will ultimately be eaten. These animal rights campaigners who seem to think that we should return to having vast herds of cattle and sheep roaming free and happy across the Irish countryside like God intended clearly have no concept of just how stupid and dependent on humans these animals are. 99.99% would starve to death or succumb to disease were it not for the farmers who look after them. So I say give as many of them as possible the best possible existence and then slap them up on my plate.

Wouldn't most of them be in danger of disease etc because of human intervention in the first instance. Aren't we the source of many of the problems to begin with.
Animals depend on us because we create the dependency.

Uriel. · 29-08-2020 10:11PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I think you can.

It's the circle of life. Humans are omnivores.

I endeavour to buy meat that has been hunted rather than meat that has been sent to a slaughterhouse. I could personally never kill the animal myself, but I think it's more humane to have been hunted.

What a lot of vegans/vegetarians fail to grasp is that a large number of animals are killed in order to provide them with their food.

As a matter of interest. Where do you source hunted meat and what is ethically sourced meat and what does that even mean.

We got half a freezer of venison last year from a local farmer who culls wild deer herds. Is that the sort of thing you are taking about?

ThewhiteJesus · 29-08-2020 10:13PM

I’ll only eat mistreated animals that were tortured to death

29-08-2020 10:17PM

ThewhiteJesus wrote: »

I’ll only eat mistreated animals that were tortured to death

Messiah steaks. Hmmmm.

McGinniesta · 29-08-2020 10:17PM

Carnivores have to eat too

29-08-2020 10:17PM

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I eat meat. I'm one of those people who learned to make about half a dozen meals and stopped because that was sufficient. I like meat if I'm going to be honest but I do concede that consuming it is horrible for the environment and morally dubious at best.

Why is it morally dubious? Morals tend to be individualistic in nature, so, people pushing the belief that it's morally wrong are simply pushing that their morals are more important than other peoples. no?

Sorry. I don't get the logic that says eating meat is morally wrong. I can understand the biological/scientific arguments that might suggest that it's unhealthy (although i'll probably continue eating it anyway)

Church on Tuesday · 29-08-2020 10:17PM

Well some animals just happen to be delicious and as a human being with teeth designed for eating meat, I have no problem in the slightest with eating them.

auspicious · 29-08-2020 10:19PM

Circle of life. Isn't that an Elton John song in The Lion King?

auspicious · 29-08-2020 10:21PM

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Well some animals just happen to be delicious and as a human being with teeth designed for eating meat, I have no problem in the slightest with eating them.

Are you one of those intelligent design advocates?

McGinniesta · 29-08-2020 10:22PM

ThewhiteJesus wrote: »

I’ll only eat mistreated animals that were tortured to death

I have a juicy steak ready for tomorrows nosebag.

I'll probably have a couple of sausages for brekkie.

I also like cake and tits.

1990sman · 29-08-2020 10:23PM

we probably wouldnt be here talking about it if our ancestors didnt eat meat, next time u meet a rasher or steak u should probably kneel and thank it.

ancapailldorcha · 29-08-2020 10:24PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Why is it morally dubious? Morals tend to be individualistic in nature, so, people pushing the belief that it's morally wrong are simply pushing that their morals are more important than other peoples. no?

Sorry. I don't get the logic that says eating meat is morally wrong. I can understand the biological/scientific arguments that might suggest that it's unhealthy (although i'll probably continue eating it anyway)

Animals feel pain and the meat industry isn't renowned for being kind to them.

I'm not really pushing anything. I was just asking what people thought. As I said, I consume meat regularly.

auspicious · 29-08-2020 10:26PM

1990sman wrote: »

we probably wouldnt be here talking about it if our ancestors didnt eat meat, next time u meet a rasher or steak u should probably kneel and thank it.

Isn't it the fat and not actually the animal protein that gave us the larger brains? Easier ways to get it these days.

Can you be a carnivore and care about animals?

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