I don't think that argument works very well, because you could say the same about kids who are bred for slavery or people who are born and raised for cannibal rituals. Obviously the "purpose" of their existence doesn't make their deaths more humane. And cows and sheep aren't even aware of their "purpose".stui magpie wrote:cows, sheep, pigs, chickens are bred and raised specifically to provide food and clothing (wool and leather). In that way they're no different to a paddock full of wheat. They're grown for a purpose.
Yes, they should be treated well while they're alive and not cruelly, but if we didn't eat them they wouldn't exist. They would have died out.
I agree that they're not very smart compared to us, but I think we can drastically underestimate animals' inner lives. Mammals, at least, have memory, dreams, imagination, ability to feel pain, potential for fear, anger, happiness and perhaps even rudimentary forms of love and hate. We don't see any of this because we can't talk to them, but I think neuroscientists agree that it's all there. How smart would you think people were if you never talked to them but just watched them sit in front of TVs, walk down the street or stagger down the train aisles singing drunkenly? You'd probably think human beings were complete morons (now, whether or not we are is a different matter...
).And just to be controversial, I still don't see how shooting a cow in the head is kinder and less cruel than giving a dog a hand-job. Which would you prefer?
