What would happen if animals suddenly started to talk?

[Damo]

I asked this question to my friends/colleagues at work the other day while having a debate, I asked "would you still eat animals if they could talk" I think the question really made them think for a few seconds I got a lot of "unsure" responses back.

If animals suddenly spoke do you think the population would stop the bloodshed?

I'd like to believe if not the population a very large amount would reconsider.

How about you?

 

[Alexia]

I think people would stop to think about it, that's why people don't eat dogs in the UK at least as many talk to their dogs and know that they understand them and 'talk' back. It stems from whether animals are sentient beings and some species are.

When we see videos of monkeys helping one another and arguing, you know that they are communicating, just in another language.

Here is a video I saw on Facebook and how she actually really spoke to the panther and talked about things you couldn't have known. Animals do understand.

 

[Josie]

I think it would stop and only the most heartless would continue. Or maybe not.. aside from hunters, nobody kills the animals themselves anyway, it's easy to stay disconnected. But the majority probably would. The less expressive the animal, the easier to eat it. Look at how they treat fish, probably worse than any others.. they can't even make the smallest of sounds to show their pain. I think many would stop to think even watching a happy cow.. they play and snuggle and love, but people only see them standing in fields as they pass by. If people saw these animals as sentient, just like their pets, instead of "raised for my consumption", they may feel differently. If they could talk; we may not get everyone, but I think veganism would be the new norm.

 

[kim1984]

I think it would certainly make people think more about it. If an animal could verbalize their feelings then perhaps people would feel a sense of guilt when it comes to eating them. It's hard to say though - I have no doubt that some "meatheads" (for lack of a better term, but it's actually quite appropriate if you pardon the pun) will still think they have the right to eat animals and that they are in some way superior...

 

[VesperLynd]

I will definitely stop eating them if my food started talking to me. I wouldn't even eat my dogs, my other pets or animals I named myself. I wouldn't eat anything with a sense of identity and consciousness it would be evil. I think everyone would go vegan if animals started to talk.

 

[JessieJJ]

If animals could talk I feel many people would back away from eating them. I compare this situation to an eye opener because clearly what's going on is right in front of them.