First off, Animals have no language that we might understand but they all have a language.When i eat i dont think about these situations or problems.But, what i do think about is animals that are used as meat production about their treatment.There is no way in this world that banning or getting rid of eating meat will no longer be a problem.Because,food is a apart of surivival and people eat to survive.Its like when animals hunt one another.You cant just pop out into the wild and say "hey, dont eat him have some grass".Yes the treatment and the way we kill and produce meat as if animals meant nothing to us is a shame.But, throwing meat off USA menu will not happen unless we are all hippies or vegatarions.I wonder how long do the people in India life span is because, you need meat as a primary food group to survive.This world has change and humans even through they are mammals are at the top of the food chain and need to survive and want to survive.They will continue to survive even if the world leans over or animals stop existing.But i have a question if they do whats our next primary source for meat.I hope it aint each other.
The thought of animal cruelty is such an uncorfortable topic to me. However, just because i do not like to acknowledge it, does not mean it is just going to disappear. When people say animals can not feel pain or suffering this is wrong. They are alive just like we are, they have pain receptors as we do, and the maltreatment of them is ridiculous. It pains me to think of what these animals go through on a daily basis and i can not bear to think of it at times. The way animals are mistreated, tortured, and the environment they live in just so we may enjoy certain meals is inconcievable to me. Food is apart of our survival yes, but there has to be a more humane way of obtaining these meats without torturing the animals. Its a shame the way they are treated, I just hope animal rights become more recognized one day and the barbaric methods they use today come to an end.
Animals not only deserve rights, they deserve respect and unquestioned protection for their natural habitats. It all depends on our views about our surroundings. If we choose to have an anthropocentric point of view then resource exhaustion and animal slaughtering for consumerist purposes among other purposes is perfectly justifiable. However, if we willingly choose to have an ecocentric point of view then we would understand that, firstly even though an animal is unable to comprehend our banal dilemmas, they innately have earned the right to live by merely existing in this ecosystem that ultimately is not even ours. Secondly, vital for our food web equilibrium; therefore, disturbances like massive animals being killed and forced to extinction shouldn’t be encouraged. Lastly, it’s not about suppressing animal product out of our lives because we are part of the food web, but rather learning how to live sustainably and having respect for every single living and non living organism in this planet. PHI 2010 Estefanny Espitia
I do not believe that eating meat is an act of cruelty, because a person needs to have a well balanced diet, and eat from every food group, which includes meat. Meat is a good strong source of protein which enables the muscles in the body to get stronger and add mass to the muscles in the body. If you look at a vegetarian, or a person who barely touches any source of meat will look very scrawny, and will not have any muscles in which you may need for any heavy lifting, or if you are an athlete. I do believe that there should be a limitation on the amount of meat one should intake, because too much meat can be detrimental to one’s health. So I don’t believe that eating meat is a source of animal cruelty. Meat should never be removed from the food table, because meat is a good resource of energy, and any good doctor will tell you this.
Maybe the problem isn't in the eating of meat, but the excessive amount of meat we do comsume. Red and white meat provide us with protein, however there are other sources of protein available in soy and grains. We do not neccessairly NEED meat to survive, it's just the alternatives to it are not as attractive as a big juicy steak. One of the arguments mentioned explains that because we are "intelligent" we have the right to dominate over those creatures which do not posses the same mental capabilities. However, if we are as intelligent as people theorize and have evolved to such a superior level are we then not above the primitive urge to eat other living things? The argument that eating animals is okay because animals eat each other is not valid because we have evolved to know the difference between what is right and wrong, animals have not. Animals do not have as many resources or nutritional options available as human beings, therefore they have had to resort to eating others. I firmly believe we have evolved past this stage and can acquire protein in a plethora of other ways that does not include slaying and eating other living creatures. There is a moral issue here that most of us do not want to acknowledge. We share this planet, we do not own it. Animals have as much of a right to live as you or me; almost every country has very strict laws about murder, so then what is so different about sticking a knife in a cow than in a human? Both have blood coursing through their veins; both breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. What is the difference? And will happen once all these animals have gone extinct, how will we justify eating each other?
I'd also like to mention Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection. If we are constantly adapting and changing in order to survive in new environments, what would happen if a another species evolves to a higher mental capability than ourselves? We must look at the suffering and pain that we are causing animals and understand that even though they may not be able to coummunicate their pain in English it still exist and if we are not ordained with the power to give life than why should we take it?
I do believe animals have a right against cruelty. There is no reason or justification for this. I do however believe that they do not deserve the same rights as humans. I have no problem with humans eating meat. The problem however arises in the way in which the animals have been treated. From the time money became an object and mass production entered the realms of agriculture, animals were always going to be mistreated. We need to find a way in which we can eat and at hte same time treat the animals in a humane way.
Well, I do believe that animal should have some type of rights but on another hand when I do eat meat I don’t think about what they go through. Even though the animals are mistreated and I know that no human would like being treated in that matter I still will eat meat. When I an devouring the Bbq ribs, a hamburger or even chicken wings I’m not thinking about animal cruelty. All that’s on my mind is good it taste. But I do think that the amount that we consume should be a little bit lower but we do need that protein.
Well, I do believe that animal should have some type of rights but on another hand when I do eat meat I don’t think about what they go through. Even though the animals are mistreated and I know that no human would like being treated in that matter I still will eat meat. When I an devouring the Bbq ribs, a hamburger or even chicken wings I’m not thinking about animal cruelty. All that’s on my mind is good it taste. But I do think that the amount that we consume should be a little bit lower but we do need that protein.
While I am eating meat the idea that I am eating what use to be a living animal does not really cross my mind. But, that does not mean that I do not care about this issue. I do not have one strong opinion towards the topic of animal rights, I consider myself in a mutual standing. I believe that animals should have rights because it is not fair that they are being killed for our pleasure to consume them. Just because they cannot technically communicate like we can they are still living creatures, similar to humans, meaning they have emotions and should have the right to stay alive. On the other side of the spectrum, to completely give animals their rights and not be able to eat meat anymore would not be a good thing either. Meat is a bare necessity for our health as humans, and of course too much of it can be bad but fully erasing it from our daily diet can be very hazardous as well.
Animal cruelty is a very complex topic. Meat is an important part of the food pyramid and cannot be removed out of based on the treatment animals receive. What i believe should be done is the animal cruelty should be controlled at a nation-wide level. Animals have rights, needs but we as humans do also; the need for survival is key in our universe. As I'm at my job doing protein count, prep-ing short rib, or marinating chicken in mongolian sauce the thought of what the animals had to go through doesn't cross my mind. The need for meats has been and will forever remain necessary. The best way to approach the subject is to create and enforce a certain fair system.
I think we as humans need to stop animal factoring. It is ridiculous that most of the animals we get our food from have been injected hormones and other unnatural things to make them grow faster and appear strong. In my opinion, the FDA should be overlooking these problems but they are not exploiting half of the things they have the power to. For example, they can help farmers have a clean farm and make sure they can provide the right treatment to their animals in order for them to grow healthy and hormone free. Nowadays, if you don't consume anything that is not organic your basically eating your meat and chicken from animals that have been grown with artificial growth hormones. On the other hand, it is very sad for animals to live in the conditions they do just because in America we are obsessed with fast food restaurants. After I took nutrition last semester, and saw plenty of animal cruelty in videos, I’ve been consuming less fast food and decided to eat a little healthier.
While it is true that animals have no language when compared to the intricacies of human language, but that does not mean that animals (those being defined as sentient, and capable of decisions) do not communicate. Those of us with pets know the look in their eyes when they've done something wrong and know it, or when we yell at them for their bad actions. this is still a form of communication even if verbal messages are not being exchanged. eating meat is, in it's evolution, a personal choice. There is no evidence one way or another as to the pros and cons of flesh consumption, as long as we understand that certain nutrients and minerals which can be found in meat are essential to our development. while this is a raging debate which clearly has no end in sight, it remains important to understand that opinions are all what dictate these points and counter-points. -patrick w
While it is true that animals have no language when compared to the intricacies of human language, but that does not mean that animals (those being defined as sentient, and capable of decisions) do not communicate. Those of us with pets know the look in their eyes when they've done something wrong and know it, or when we yell at them for their bad actions. this is still a form of communication even if verbal messages are not being exchanged. eating meat is, in it's evolution, a personal choice. There is no evidence one way or another as to the pros and cons of flesh consumption, as long as we understand that certain nutrients and minerals which can be found in meat are essential to our development. while this is a raging debate which clearly has no end in sight, it remains important to understand that opinions are all what dictate these points and counter-points. -patrick w
I feel as though animals are often taken for granted by one half of the spectrum (the meat eating, leather wearing plunderers of the earth) while the other half of the spectrum (the vegan, peta, love for all animals while we talk smack about our own human species and treat other humans like vermin half) gives far too much precedent to animals without considering convenience, history, social dynamics, and overall need.
It should be logical to find a middle ground. It should be obvious that not everyone who is anemic can survive off Iron pills. It should be obvious that in some parts of the world wearing leather is a necessity, not a fashion statement, and it should be logical that in many parts of the world, human and animal conflict will arise over territorial parts. Thats not to say that we should be cutting down forests where millions of creatures live just for illegal logging, or that we should be electrocuting ferrets through their genitalia just to make another fashion coat or a muff. In any case it should by wiser to say "Hey. I don't eat meat. I don't like how they are abused. Let me find a way to HELP people who NEED to eat meat in order to survive (or even if its because they just like how it tastes) get said meat without resorting to buying from mass production ranches where the animals are tortured until they die to be placed on a dining table."
On the flip side, humans need to comprehend that many of these animals they kill or devour for simple basic pleasures (such as mounting their heads on the wall), are part of a very vital cycle that keeps our humanity in check. For example, snakes eat rodents. Rodents eat bugs and...everything else. But every creature serves a purpose in order to ensure that everything is in check. Without bee's the honey lovers would be saddened. Without pigs, bacon lovers would be saddened. Here's the reality. Everything in moderation. Everything should be treated like its the very last of its kind, and the person with the control should think very carefully about how to proceed. Does this mean they should never eat a pig just because in their head its the last of it's kind? Hmm probably not, the creature will die at some point anyway but if there is an alternative to keeping animals from dying off in mass quantities, it should be explored.
Also, instead of CLONING food, why not, oh I don't know, RE-EDUCATE the humans? First off, a human does NOT need to eat meat at every single meal! There is protein in eggs! In cheese! Learn to do without as much of the gluttony! And this is coming from the resident fat girl (and I say that without shame because I actually do attempt to lead a rather healthy life, and if I can do it, so can others.). If you can retrain your brain to understand the differences between want and need, a lot of the things making humans unhappy will slowly wither away. Need food? Yes. Need meat at every meal? Not necessarily. Need something warm to wear? Yes, depending on the area. Need it to be leather? Probably not unless you're in Alaska or Greenland (by the by, did most of you know that Greenland is actually covered in ice and snow? Yeah go figure, and even THEY use cotton sweaters for the most part. Sometimes fleece but without killing the critters.) The idea is, there are alternatives. Eat a steak once in a while, great. Love the stuff. Need it? I don't think so.
This is all coming from my own personal perspective, mind you, I'm rather hungry at the moment so I focused on food a bit.. I should fix that but it still applies to many other basic "necessities" we humans have convinced ourselves we must have.
Many people often forget that their not the only ones on this world. People tend to forget the part where we share the world with many different species of animals. The way people mistreat animals and abuse them is unfair. Animals and pets depend on us to feed them and live. So it is on us to help them live and survive. Animals have feelings and our living things just like you and me. It is not fair that some people treat them wrong and is not fair. However, I do eat meat, chicken and am not a vegetarian so I do eat the meat of animals that have been mistreated. I just wish the way they gather and process the animals are in a way that does not hurt the animals or torture them. Animals rights should b e something to think about and should not be ignored. -Alex Pino
I think its not the fact that we eat meat, its the amount we are eating and the way we are getting these meats. If everyone in the USA was taught to eat less meat it would help somewhat a little. Since we as humans today need to consume certain amount of meat as protein and carbohydrates to stay healthy we always are eating meats unless you are a vegetarian. The only thing that bothers me is the way the animals are treated and how cruel they are to them. Honestly, I don’t really think of the animals when I am eating meat because I eat it and I have been taught all my life to eat meats and not really to think of the cruelties animals have to go through for me to be able to get my piece of meat. The FDA has enough power to help out and see the way these animals are treated. Others too have to speak out for animals since they have no way of speaking or expressing themselves and the pain they go through.
I have been a vegetarian most of my life. At first I just refused to eat animals because in my young mind I did not feel like ingesting a cadaver. As a child living on a farm I witnessed how the farmers would slaughter the chickens and roosters and I thought of why have such violence towards a living thing. Did we really have to feed ourselves of living creatures? The myth over the lack of protein from a vegetarian’s diet is really the marketing system trying to engrave into society’s mind that meat is necessary for one to remain healthy. We do not need to sacrifice animals to nourish our systems; we are not even built physically to eat meat. Our set of teeth is not sharp enough to rip flesh apart as we only have a set of two fangs. Another notion to take into consideration is that our intestines are many meters long and a piece of meat takes about seven hours to fully digest and many times it becomes rotten on its journey. One can ask, in an emotional aspect, how can one be so cruel? By eating cadavers one is promoting a multimillion industry that will do anything to provide ignorant savages; even dolphins, playful inoffensive animals, are being butchered in our oceans. In Spain they still open a pregnant cow to take the very famous “lechal” out, a calf, and they sell it as a delicacy in restaurants. It is easier to ignore it all for the sake of one’s appetite for their ego than to question where one’s awareness and philosophy lies.
Most people tend to look to the other side when they see animal cruelty; other people just talk and talk about how they would love to help animals but instead of actually doing something they get full of thoughts without actions. In this article says that in India they have no animal rights, yet they do not eat meat, but one of the causes in the USA, as I see it, is that it is almost impossible for people not to eat meat, especially because of the different cultures that live in this country, they are all used to eat meat; for these reason companies will continue to kill animals. Do not get me wrong, I am totally against animal cruelty but our reality is other. Another strong reason why people will keep doing the same thing to animals is because of the money they get from them, from selling them in that market. There are many institutions that fight against animal cruelty as it is The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), but this institutions cannot stop the human’s ambition, and their seek to get money from wherever they can; therefore this fight against animal cruelty will not stop, or at least not within the next years.
While I’ll be the first to say there is nothing more satisfying to the taste buds as a big juicy burger or a smoky rack of barbeque ribs, I firmly believe that those animals that are being sacrificed for our intake should have rights and proper treatment. Just because these animals are breed to die and become our food does not mean they should be denied proper respect and nourishment. Of course as humans there is a sense of power over the lives of these creatures, which leads to the mistreatment and abuse of these animals. There is no doubt in my mind if the roles were to reverse in a situation similar to George Orwell’s Animal Farm we would learn to give animals the proper treatment we expect from one another. When it comes to language humans and animals might not share a language but I still believe that bonds and mutual understandings can be made. Take for example the cat I am responsible for. When I am out late she waits for me by the door until I am home and will then proceed to follow me to my room where she sleeps. If she is hungry she will come looking for me or if I’m sleeping she will start pulling my hair until I wake up and feed her. The cat is hungry and understands I am the one that feeds thus she knows she must wake me up from slumber in order for her to eat. It goes the same for me, its possible she is just waking me up for any particular reason but I know she is hungry and sure enough when I reach the kitchen her bowl is empty. Even though no words are shared I can firmly say I understand what the cat wants. This showing that while there is no language humans and animals can come to a mutual understanding.
When I’m eating meat or chicken, it does run through my head at times about the animal they killed to make that meal. I believe that it’s a sad thing that the animals are being killed for human to be fed with the nutrients needed while the animal is going through pain and misery due to that they are being killed in order to make food. I think animals should have rights as humans because they have a brain, and they have a heart. They feel the pain the same as humans do if they were being killed. I think it’s a cruel thing to still be killing animals after all the years of advancement in technology. With what we have today, there has to be some kind of way to make food without killing a poor innocent creature.
When I’m eating meat or chicken, it does run through my head at times about the animal they killed to make that meal. I believe that it’s a sad thing that the animals are being killed for human to be fed with the nutrients needed while the animal is going through pain and misery due to that they are being killed in order to make food. I think animals should have rights as humans because they have a brain, and they have a heart. They feel the pain the same as humans do if they were being killed. I think it’s a cruel thing to still be killing animals after all the years of advancement in technology. With what we have today, there has to be some kind of way to make food without killing a poor innocent creature.
I think animals should have rights to a certain instinct i know to some people it may not seem fair but its just to bad because thats just the circle of life just how animals eat other animals people eat animals it how we get our protein and how we survive. I don't know about most people but when iam eating if there's no meat i won't eat the food but animals play an important role cause there what we eat in our every day lives.
As a superior race I believe we should protect those who do not have a voice of their own. In this case animals, unfortunately we are evolving into a selfish society that in order to obtain our needs and wants we choose to ignore and apply some moral rules at our convenience. As an intelligent race we have the capacity to create different methods to approach problems. Having said that, one possibility to solve this issue is to stop the physical abuse we put animals through. It is an unnecessary behavior of our part towards them. And although our survival does not depend on our consumption of animal products, since we have an extend variety of products that provides us with the same characteristics of nutritional content. Meat lovers would argue the opposite even after knowing that actually vegans have the healthiest diet of all. This is all cultural because this society has grown up in a culture where killing animals is acceptable, we do it. India does not because in their culture is it not acceptable. HEYDY REJAS
1. This is a very hard and personal struggle for me because I am such a lover of animals and at the same time all foods. I am very adventurous with food and I like to try everything. I feel like you share and learn so much by it, cultures, traditions, family, and wine, great conversation. Does meat have to be involved for this to exist? No, but I couldn’t imagine while in Korea trying to ask if there was any meat, or meat products in what I was eating. Half the time I didn’t even know. I wanted to submerse myself in the culture and felt such food restrictions, like vegetarianism, would be a hindrance. 2. I grew up in Missouri and was introduced at a very young age where my family's meat came from, our friends, the Dietz’s, farm. My dad was very conscious of where all our food came from. We would get fresh eggs, raw cow’s milk, and goat’s milk. Every year my papa and the patriarch of the Dietz clan would take one cow to be slaughtered. Half a cow would last my family a year. Do we chastise wild animals for eating other animals? Should humans be the moral compass of the food chain? Is eating animals morally wrong? My family knew what our cow ate and how he was treated. He was respected and had plenty of space to roam free; but does that make taking a life better? If I try to justify how humanely these specific cows were treated, the Dietz’s lovely farm is not the type of place the majority of meat comes from. I will free trapped insects from my apartment; I am horrified when people kill spiders, but a cheeseburger I’ll eat. I know that doesn’t make any sense. This is a subject I do think about. I believe a life is a life and should be respected. As for the specifics, I still haven’t figured those out.
While eating any type of meat I personally do not consider the fact that this used to be a living animal. In my opinion there should be more restrictions and limitations on how local farms raise animals and grow plants and vegetables. According to history, natives of all lands relied on meat and animals for many uses in their village such as food. The natives, however, did not slaughter these animals because they have great respect for these animals. Animals live just to provide humans with essential features needed for human success. Companies like Burger King and McDonald’s take advantage of these animals by genetically enhancing these cows and chicken. These genetically enhanced animals are crammed into tiny areas where they live in filth and eventually die a brutal death. All these are examples for why animal rights should include the livestock and be maintained daily with very strict regulations.
26 comments:
First off, Animals have no language that we might understand but they all have a language.When i eat i dont think about these situations or problems.But, what i do think about is animals that are used as meat production about their treatment.There is no way in this world that banning or getting rid of eating meat will no longer be a problem.Because,food is a apart of surivival and people eat to survive.Its like when animals hunt one another.You cant just pop out into the wild and say "hey, dont eat him have some grass".Yes the treatment and the way we kill and produce meat as if animals meant nothing to us is a shame.But, throwing meat off USA menu will not happen unless we are all hippies or vegatarions.I wonder how long do the people in India life span is because, you need meat as a primary food group to survive.This world has change and humans even through they are mammals are at the top of the food chain and need to survive and want to survive.They will continue to survive even if the world leans over or animals stop existing.But i have a question if they do whats our next primary source for meat.I hope it aint each other.
Saine Stevens
The thought of animal cruelty is such an uncorfortable topic to me. However, just because i do not like to acknowledge it, does not mean it is just going to disappear. When people say animals can not feel pain or suffering this is wrong. They are alive just like we are, they have pain receptors as we do, and the maltreatment of them is ridiculous. It pains me to think of what these animals go through on a daily basis and i can not bear to think of it at times. The way animals are mistreated, tortured, and the environment they live in just so we may enjoy certain meals is inconcievable to me. Food is apart of our survival yes, but there has to be a more humane way of obtaining these meats without torturing the animals. Its a shame the way they are treated, I just hope animal rights become more recognized one day and the barbaric methods they use today come to an end.
Animals not only deserve rights, they deserve respect and unquestioned protection for their natural habitats. It all depends on our views about our surroundings. If we choose to have an anthropocentric point of view then resource exhaustion and animal slaughtering for consumerist purposes among other purposes is perfectly justifiable. However, if we willingly choose to have an ecocentric point of view then we would understand that, firstly even though an animal is unable to comprehend our banal dilemmas, they innately have earned the right to live by merely existing in this ecosystem that ultimately is not even ours. Secondly, vital for our food web equilibrium; therefore, disturbances like massive animals being killed and forced to extinction shouldn’t be encouraged. Lastly, it’s not about suppressing animal product out of our lives because we are part of the food web, but rather learning how to live sustainably and having respect for every single living and non living organism in this planet.
PHI 2010
Estefanny Espitia
I do not believe that eating meat is an act of cruelty, because a person needs to have a well balanced diet, and eat from every food group, which includes meat. Meat is a good strong source of protein which enables the muscles in the body to get stronger and add mass to the muscles in the body. If you look at a vegetarian, or a person who barely touches any source of meat will look very scrawny, and will not have any muscles in which you may need for any heavy lifting, or if you are an athlete. I do believe that there should be a limitation on the amount of meat one should intake, because too much meat can be detrimental to one’s health. So I don’t believe that eating meat is a source of animal cruelty. Meat should never be removed from the food table, because meat is a good resource of energy, and any good doctor will tell you this.
Zachary Frischholz
Maybe the problem isn't in the eating of meat, but the excessive amount of meat we do comsume. Red and white meat provide us with protein, however there are other sources of protein available in soy and grains. We do not neccessairly NEED meat to survive, it's just the alternatives to it are not as attractive as a big juicy steak.
One of the arguments mentioned explains that because we are "intelligent" we have the right to dominate over those creatures which do not posses the same mental capabilities. However, if we are as intelligent as people theorize and have evolved to such a superior level are we then not above the primitive urge to eat other living things? The argument that eating animals is okay because animals eat each other is not valid because we have evolved to know the difference between what is right and wrong, animals have not. Animals do not have as many resources or nutritional options available as human beings, therefore they have had to resort to eating others. I firmly believe we have evolved past this stage and can acquire protein in a plethora of other ways that does not include slaying and eating other living creatures.
There is a moral issue here that most of us do not want to acknowledge. We share this planet, we do not own it. Animals have as much of a right to live as you or me; almost every country has very strict laws about murder, so then what is so different about sticking a knife in a cow than in a human? Both have blood coursing through their veins; both breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. What is the difference?
And will happen once all these animals have gone extinct, how will we justify eating each other?
I'd also like to mention Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection. If we are constantly adapting and changing in order to survive in new environments, what would happen if a another species evolves to a higher mental capability than ourselves? We must look at the suffering and pain that we are causing animals and understand that even though they may not be able to coummunicate their pain in English it still exist and if we are not ordained with the power to give life than why should we take it?
I do believe animals have a right against cruelty. There is no reason or justification for this. I do however believe that they do not deserve the same rights as humans. I have no problem with humans eating meat. The problem however arises in the way in which the animals have been treated. From the time money became an object and mass production entered the realms of agriculture, animals were always going to be mistreated. We need to find a way in which we can eat and at hte same time treat the animals in a humane way.
Well, I do believe that animal should have some type of rights but on another hand when I do eat meat I don’t think about what they go through. Even though the animals are mistreated and I know that no human would like being treated in that matter I still will eat meat. When I an devouring the Bbq ribs, a hamburger or even chicken wings I’m not thinking about animal cruelty. All that’s on my mind is good it taste. But I do think that the amount that we consume should be a little bit lower but we do need that protein.
Well, I do believe that animal should have some type of rights but on another hand when I do eat meat I don’t think about what they go through. Even though the animals are mistreated and I know that no human would like being treated in that matter I still will eat meat. When I an devouring the Bbq ribs, a hamburger or even chicken wings I’m not thinking about animal cruelty. All that’s on my mind is good it taste. But I do think that the amount that we consume should be a little bit lower but we do need that protein.
-Saradgy Stgermain
While I am eating meat the idea that I am eating what use to be a living animal does not really cross my mind. But, that does not mean that I do not care about this issue. I do not have one strong opinion towards the topic of animal rights, I consider myself in a mutual standing. I believe that animals should have rights because it is not fair that they are being killed for our pleasure to consume them. Just because they cannot technically communicate like we can they are still living creatures, similar to humans, meaning they have emotions and should have the right to stay alive. On the other side of the spectrum, to completely give animals their rights and not be able to eat meat anymore would not be a good thing either. Meat is a bare necessity for our health as humans, and of course too much of it can be bad but fully erasing it from our daily diet can be very hazardous as well.
-Victoria Puentes
Animal cruelty is a very complex topic. Meat is an important part of the food pyramid and cannot be removed out of based on the treatment animals receive. What i believe should be done is the animal cruelty should be controlled at a nation-wide level. Animals have rights, needs but we as humans do also; the need for survival is key in our universe. As I'm at my job doing protein count, prep-ing short rib, or marinating chicken in mongolian sauce the thought of what the animals had to go through doesn't cross my mind. The need for meats has been and will forever remain necessary. The best way to approach the subject is to create and enforce a certain fair system.
- walter navarro
I think we as humans need to stop animal factoring. It is ridiculous that most of the animals we get our food from have been injected hormones and other unnatural things to make them grow faster and appear strong. In my opinion, the FDA should be overlooking these problems but they are not exploiting half of the things they have the power to. For example, they can help farmers have a clean farm and make sure they can provide the right treatment to their animals in order for them to grow healthy and hormone free. Nowadays, if you don't consume anything that is not organic your basically eating your meat and chicken from animals that have been grown with artificial growth hormones. On the other hand, it is very sad for animals to live in the conditions they do just because in America we are obsessed with fast food restaurants. After I took nutrition last semester, and saw plenty of animal cruelty in videos, I’ve been consuming less fast food and decided to eat a little healthier.
Patricia Santana
While it is true that animals have no language when compared to the intricacies of human language, but that does not mean that animals (those being defined as sentient, and capable of decisions) do not communicate. Those of us with pets know the look in their eyes when they've done something wrong and know it, or when we yell at them for their bad actions. this is still a form of communication even if verbal messages are not being exchanged.
eating meat is, in it's evolution, a personal choice. There is no evidence one way or another as to the pros and cons of flesh consumption, as long as we understand that certain nutrients and minerals which can be found in meat are essential to our development.
while this is a raging debate which clearly has no end in sight, it remains important to understand that opinions are all what dictate these points and counter-points.
-patrick w
posted wrong. APOLOGIES!
While it is true that animals have no language when compared to the intricacies of human language, but that does not mean that animals (those being defined as sentient, and capable of decisions) do not communicate. Those of us with pets know the look in their eyes when they've done something wrong and know it, or when we yell at them for their bad actions. this is still a form of communication even if verbal messages are not being exchanged.
eating meat is, in it's evolution, a personal choice. There is no evidence one way or another as to the pros and cons of flesh consumption, as long as we understand that certain nutrients and minerals which can be found in meat are essential to our development.
while this is a raging debate which clearly has no end in sight, it remains important to understand that opinions are all what dictate these points and counter-points.
-patrick w
I feel as though animals are often taken for granted by one half of the spectrum (the meat eating, leather wearing plunderers of the earth) while the other half of the spectrum (the vegan, peta, love for all animals while we talk smack about our own human species and treat other humans like vermin half) gives far too much precedent to animals without considering convenience, history, social dynamics, and overall need.
It should be logical to find a middle ground. It should be obvious that not everyone who is anemic can survive off Iron pills. It should be obvious that in some parts of the world wearing leather is a necessity, not a fashion statement, and it should be logical that in many parts of the world, human and animal conflict will arise over territorial parts. Thats not to say that we should be cutting down forests where millions of creatures live just for illegal logging, or that we should be electrocuting ferrets through their genitalia just to make another fashion coat or a muff. In any case it should by wiser to say "Hey. I don't eat meat. I don't like how they are abused. Let me find a way to HELP people who NEED to eat meat in order to survive (or even if its because they just like how it tastes) get said meat without resorting to buying from mass production ranches where the animals are tortured until they die to be placed on a dining table."
On the flip side, humans need to comprehend that many of these animals they kill or devour for simple basic pleasures (such as mounting their heads on the wall), are part of a very vital cycle that keeps our humanity in check. For example, snakes eat rodents. Rodents eat bugs and...everything else. But every creature serves a purpose in order to ensure that everything is in check. Without bee's the honey lovers would be saddened. Without pigs, bacon lovers would be saddened. Here's the reality. Everything in moderation. Everything should be treated like its the very last of its kind, and the person with the control should think very carefully about how to proceed. Does this mean they should never eat a pig just because in their head its the last of it's kind? Hmm probably not, the creature will die at some point anyway but if there is an alternative to keeping animals from dying off in mass quantities, it should be explored.
Also, instead of CLONING food, why not, oh I don't know, RE-EDUCATE the humans? First off, a human does NOT need to eat meat at every single meal! There is protein in eggs! In cheese! Learn to do without as much of the gluttony! And this is coming from the resident fat girl (and I say that without shame because I actually do attempt to lead a rather healthy life, and if I can do it, so can others.). If you can retrain your brain to understand the differences between want and need, a lot of the things making humans unhappy will slowly wither away. Need food? Yes. Need meat at every meal? Not necessarily. Need something warm to wear? Yes, depending on the area. Need it to be leather? Probably not unless you're in Alaska or Greenland (by the by, did most of you know that Greenland is actually covered in ice and snow? Yeah go figure, and even THEY use cotton sweaters for the most part. Sometimes fleece but without killing the critters.) The idea is, there are alternatives. Eat a steak once in a while, great. Love the stuff. Need it? I don't think so.
This is all coming from my own personal perspective, mind you, I'm rather hungry at the moment so I focused on food a bit.. I should fix that but it still applies to many other basic "necessities" we humans have convinced ourselves we must have.
Christine Elias
PHI2010 TR 11:15am.
Many people often forget that their not the only ones on this world. People tend to forget the part where we share the world with many different species of animals. The way people mistreat animals and abuse them is unfair. Animals and pets depend on us to feed them and live. So it is on us to help them live and survive. Animals have feelings and our living things just like you and me. It is not fair that some people treat them wrong and is not fair. However, I do eat meat, chicken and am not a vegetarian so I do eat the meat of animals that have been mistreated. I just wish the way they gather and process the animals are in a way that does not hurt the animals or torture them. Animals rights should b e something to think about and should not be ignored.
-Alex Pino
I think its not the fact that we eat meat, its the amount we are eating and the way we are getting these meats. If everyone in the USA was taught to eat less meat it would help somewhat a little. Since we as humans today need to consume certain amount of meat as protein and carbohydrates to stay healthy we always are eating meats unless you are a vegetarian. The only thing that bothers me is the way the animals are treated and how cruel they are to them. Honestly, I don’t really think of the animals when I am eating meat because I eat it and I have been taught all my life to eat meats and not really to think of the cruelties animals have to go through for me to be able to get my piece of meat. The FDA has enough power to help out and see the way these animals are treated. Others too have to speak out for animals since they have no way of speaking or expressing themselves and the pain they go through.
CHARLOTTE B RUSSELL
I have been a vegetarian most of my life. At first I just refused to eat animals because in my young mind I did not feel like ingesting a cadaver. As a child living on a farm I witnessed how the farmers would slaughter the chickens and roosters and I thought of why have such violence towards a living thing.
Did we really have to feed ourselves of living creatures? The myth over the lack of protein from a vegetarian’s diet is really the marketing system trying to engrave into society’s mind that meat is necessary for one to remain healthy.
We do not need to sacrifice animals to nourish our systems; we are not even built physically to eat meat. Our set of teeth is not sharp enough to rip flesh apart as we only have a set of two fangs. Another notion to take into consideration is that our intestines are many meters long and a piece of meat takes about seven hours to fully digest and many times it becomes rotten on its journey. One can ask, in an emotional aspect, how can one be so cruel?
By eating cadavers one is promoting a multimillion industry that will do anything to provide ignorant savages; even dolphins, playful inoffensive animals, are being butchered in our oceans. In Spain they still open a pregnant cow to take the very famous “lechal” out, a calf, and they sell it as a delicacy in restaurants.
It is easier to ignore it all for the sake of one’s appetite for their ego than to question where one’s awareness and philosophy lies.
Most people tend to look to the other side when they see animal cruelty; other people just talk and talk about how they would love to help animals but instead of actually doing something they get full of thoughts without actions. In this article says that in India they have no animal rights, yet they do not eat meat, but one of the causes in the USA, as I see it, is that it is almost impossible for people not to eat meat, especially because of the different cultures that live in this country, they are all used to eat meat; for these reason companies will continue to kill animals. Do not get me wrong, I am totally against animal cruelty but our reality is other. Another strong reason why people will keep doing the same thing to animals is because of the money they get from them, from selling them in that market. There are many institutions that fight against animal cruelty as it is The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), but this institutions cannot stop the human’s ambition, and their seek to get money from wherever they can; therefore this fight against animal cruelty will not stop, or at least not within the next years.
While I’ll be the first to say there is nothing more satisfying to the taste buds as a big juicy burger or a smoky rack of barbeque ribs, I firmly believe that those animals that are being sacrificed for our intake should have rights and proper treatment. Just because these animals are breed to die and become our food does not mean they should be denied proper respect and nourishment. Of course as humans there is a sense of power over the lives of these creatures, which leads to the mistreatment and abuse of these animals. There is no doubt in my mind if the roles were to reverse in a situation similar to George Orwell’s Animal Farm we would learn to give animals the proper treatment we expect from one another. When it comes to language humans and animals might not share a language but I still believe that bonds and mutual understandings can be made. Take for example the cat I am responsible for. When I am out late she waits for me by the door until I am home and will then proceed to follow me to my room where she sleeps. If she is hungry she will come looking for me or if I’m sleeping she will start pulling my hair until I wake up and feed her. The cat is hungry and understands I am the one that feeds thus she knows she must wake me up from slumber in order for her to eat. It goes the same for me, its possible she is just waking me up for any particular reason but I know she is hungry and sure enough when I reach the kitchen her bowl is empty. Even though no words are shared I can firmly say I understand what the cat wants. This showing that while there is no language humans and animals can come to a mutual understanding.
When I’m eating meat or chicken, it does run through my head at times about the animal they killed to make that meal. I believe that it’s a sad thing that the animals are being killed for human to be fed with the nutrients needed while the animal is going through pain and misery due to that they are being killed in order to make food. I think animals should have rights as humans because they have a brain, and they have a heart. They feel the pain the same as humans do if they were being killed. I think it’s a cruel thing to still be killing animals after all the years of advancement in technology. With what we have today, there has to be some kind of way to make food without killing a poor innocent creature.
-Daniel Melo
When I’m eating meat or chicken, it does run through my head at times about the animal they killed to make that meal. I believe that it’s a sad thing that the animals are being killed for human to be fed with the nutrients needed while the animal is going through pain and misery due to that they are being killed in order to make food. I think animals should have rights as humans because they have a brain, and they have a heart. They feel the pain the same as humans do if they were being killed. I think it’s a cruel thing to still be killing animals after all the years of advancement in technology. With what we have today, there has to be some kind of way to make food without killing a poor innocent creature.
-Daniel Melo
I think animals should have rights to a certain instinct i know to some people it may not seem fair but its just to bad because thats just the circle of life just how animals eat other animals people eat animals it how we get our protein and how we survive. I don't know about most people but when iam eating if there's no meat i won't eat the food but animals play an important role cause there what we eat in our every day lives.
As a superior race I believe we should protect those who do not have a voice of their own. In this case animals, unfortunately we are evolving into a selfish society that in order to obtain our needs and wants we choose to ignore and apply some moral rules at our convenience. As an intelligent race we have the capacity to create different methods to approach problems. Having said that, one possibility to solve this issue is to stop the physical abuse we put animals through. It is an unnecessary behavior of our part towards them. And although our survival does not depend on our consumption of animal products, since we have an extend variety of products that provides us with the same characteristics of nutritional content. Meat lovers would argue the opposite even after knowing that actually vegans have the healthiest diet of all. This is all cultural because this society has grown up in a culture where killing animals is acceptable, we do it. India does not because in their culture is it not acceptable.
HEYDY REJAS
1. This is a very hard and personal struggle for me because I am such a lover of animals and at the same time all foods. I am very adventurous with food and I like to try everything. I feel like you share and learn so much by it, cultures, traditions, family, and wine, great conversation. Does meat have to be involved for this to exist? No, but I couldn’t imagine while in Korea trying to ask if there was any meat, or meat products in what I was eating. Half the time I didn’t even know. I wanted to submerse myself in the culture and felt such food restrictions, like vegetarianism, would be a hindrance.
2. I grew up in Missouri and was introduced at a very young age where my family's meat came from, our friends, the Dietz’s, farm. My dad was very conscious of where all our food came from. We would get fresh eggs, raw cow’s milk, and goat’s milk. Every year my papa and the patriarch of the Dietz clan would take one cow to be slaughtered. Half a cow would last my family a year. Do we chastise wild animals for eating other animals? Should humans be the moral compass of the food chain? Is eating animals morally wrong? My family knew what our cow ate and how he was treated. He was respected and had plenty of space to roam free; but does that make taking a life better? If I try to justify how humanely these specific cows were treated, the Dietz’s lovely farm is not the type of place the majority of meat comes from. I will free trapped insects from my apartment; I am horrified when people kill spiders, but a cheeseburger I’ll eat. I know that doesn’t make any sense. This is a subject I do think about. I believe a life is a life and should be respected. As for the specifics, I still haven’t figured those out.
Lydia Lane
While eating any type of meat I personally do not consider the fact that this used to be a living animal. In my opinion there should be more restrictions and limitations on how local farms raise animals and grow plants and vegetables. According to history, natives of all lands relied on meat and animals for many uses in their village such as food. The natives, however, did not slaughter these animals because they have great respect for these animals. Animals live just to provide humans with essential features needed for human success. Companies like Burger King and McDonald’s take advantage of these animals by genetically enhancing these cows and chicken. These genetically enhanced animals are crammed into tiny areas where they live in filth and eventually die a brutal death. All these are examples for why animal rights should include the livestock and be maintained daily with very strict regulations.
Eric Langone
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