The fair-weather vegetarian

1784: 

Many humans don’t pay much attention to developing a philosophical basis to their  lives, or at least they don’t stray too far into the world of original thinking. These humans are inclined to focus on the interests of humans only to the detriment of other life forms. I think they do it because it’s where the applause is loudest, where their own way of thinking is most likely to be confirmed.

To be loyal to our own species at the expense of other species is anthropocentrism. We’d find it ridiculous, to say that torturing humans is okay if it’s done humanely, torture never being ‘humanely’ administered. But we have a different set of rules when it comes to non-humans and how they can be treated. One could say that lacto-ovo vegetarians accept the humane torture of animals, because the animals from which eggs and milk are taken are not killed for their meat. It’s okay to exploit them, take their babies, exhaust them, prematurely age them and keep them in confinement with no semblance of social or sexual life until they’re of no further use to humans. Their by-products are acceptable to the lacto-ovo-vegetarian, as long as their flesh is not actually eaten. If they don’t eat meat they can still call themselves vegetarians. Their hypocrisy is astounding.

Here, with the laying hen and the dairy cow, are examples of grossly abused animals. A dairy cow who ‘gives’ her milk, means that her milk is denied to her calf, who is then disposed of. The dairy cow is finally executed when her milk production drops below a certain level.  The hen who ‘gives’ us her eggs (the male chicks are killed on day one) is finally executed, and so is the sheep who ‘gives’ us the wool from its back (exposing it to sunburn and exposure). They’re sent to their grisly deaths after they’ve given as much as they can give. Each of these animals lives in appalling conditions and is slaughtered at the abattoir when they can no longer provide enough milk, eggs or wool, respectively.

Could any fair-weather vegetarian say they do not approve of killing animals for human convenience?