Cruelty and temptation

1711: 

If you are an animal eater, you are an animal-cruelty supporter, whether you like it or not! If you are 'concerned', then it's a balance between personal wants and the suffering of the animals themselves. If you don’t care about the feelings of these animals then one might say that you're  not to be trusted around any animals, since you’ll always considering your own interests before theirs. Even the most beloved companion animals at home may prove this point. For many people, they are unwilling to go too far for 'the animal' - the pet, the companion. What with high vet bills - some won’t pay. They’d rather have their animal’s life brought to an early end. For their own convenience.

Perhaps it’s here that we’re most sorely tested – the animal we say we love presents us with a difficult choice, between the cost to ourselves and the ending of a life. Should we or shouldn't we? For some it’s compassion that decides. For others, the kenneling costs whilst away on holiday will convince them to have their animal put down, to be replaced by another on their return from holiday. And if this can apply to those we call ‘companion animals’, then when it comes to those animals who are used for food, their feelings are entirely beyond any sort of consideration. We  allow ourselves to feel no responsibility for what happens to them, as long as we remain blissfully ignorant of 'farm animals' living conditions or the manner of their death. For only then can we enjoy the ‘benefit’ of them. Since almost everybody eats them, there’s hardly anyone left to defend them, nor to urge an attitudinal change.

These farmed, faceless animals are so tasty to eat and a good source of protein, that surely we’d be mad not to accept Nature’s generous gift to us? Since no animal can match a human’s strength or brain power, we know there’s no danger of them fighting back. They make easy prey for us. Once captive, they become rather like food-on-tap. We control their lives and the timing of their deaths. We make full use of them, and nothing is wasted. Animals are a resource. Most people have never considered the possibility that this (traditional) using of animals is wrong.

         

Those of us who are more kindly disposed towards animals avoid all animal food. But that doesn’t mean we starve or become ill, by not eating animals or their by-products. Up until the middle of the last century, it was believed that animal protein was nutritionally essential; without meat our health would be compromised; we’d become anemic, lack physical and mental energy, and our children would sicken. By the second half of the twentieth century this belief was exploded by a few brave people who experimented, by avoiding all animal protein. They found that the human body actually thrived on the plant protein. And so it was recommended - a plant-based diet. From that point on, everything began to change for those who adopted a vegan diet, by coming to know that there's no danger to our health by not eating animal-based foods. Indeed, we were at last also realise that humans don't need animals for anything – neither for transport, clothing, entertainment or food.

As we end our dependency on animals, so we can come to regard them as sovereign, irreplaceable individuals and allow them to live out their lives without human interference. And yet, as free-willed human beings, we still have the ‘choice’. But it seems the overwhelming majority still want to make use of animals. It is still too tempting to give up.