Question Why do people choose to be vegetarian?

[VeganRachel]

Thank you for posting your question. The problem is that we are living in a time where everything is compared to the awful
factory farms. Therefore, any other choice is called humane and kind. Yet I believe no matter how "nicely" you raise animals, they
are still used and slaughtered at an early age against their will and desire to live. I think it is a betrayal of trust to raise an animal,
take it away from its' mom, use it, and then kill it. Imagine putting them on a truck to be sent to slaughter, and the horror they feel
knowing they are about to die. I read articles that stated 10%-70% of dairy cows sent to slaughter are carrying a fetus. Millions of
male layer hen chicks are garbage to the industry so they are shredded, gassed or suffocated every year after birth. What an
incredibly inhumane thing for humans to do. So much for "right to life". Would you trade places with the animals you raise?.

Here is an honest article about former natural animal farmers and how they changed, and another article. Peace be in you.

16 Former Meat & Dairy Farmers Who Became Vegan Activists

We've updated our popular feature with 8 NEW profiles of former animal farmers who went vegan and are speaking out.

freefromharm.org

Six Challenges to "Humane" Animal Product Claims

There is far more to being "humane" than how we treat someone during the short time we allow them to stay alive.

freefromharm.org

 

[Brian W]

and I don't currently believe animals fear death (simply because they don't appear to have an intellectual conception of "death").

Evidence shows that animals that are about to be slaughtered are terrified and panic the same as we would. You don't have to know that you are going to die to experience terror at the danger. Besides which elephants are known to mourn the deaths of other elephants and surely carnivores, at least, understand that there is a difference between life and death. Their prey certainly looks terrified to me while it is being killed!

 

[Lou]

Evidence shows that animals that are about to be slaughtered are terrified and panic the same as we would. You don't have to know that you are going to die to experience terror at the danger. Besides which elephants are known to mourn the deaths of other elephants and surely carnivores, at least, understand that there is a difference between life and death. Their prey certainly looks terrified to me while it is being killed!

Oh, that is a good perspective.
I can't remember where I saw it but there was a obseration of... I think it was chimps in the wild.... of having a little funeral.

There is even a paper on it.

When Animals Mourn

Mounting evidence from species as diverse as cats and dolphins indicates that humans are not the only species that grieves over the loss of loved ones

www.scientificamerican.com

this doesn't or shouldn't change the argument.

The question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? Why should the law refuse its protection to any sensitive being?” – Bentham (1789) – An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.

Animal Rights Philosophy

There are many people around the world who believe that it is ethically wrong to carry out medical research using animals. At the center of this belief is usually an assumption that animals have, o…

speakingofresearch.com

 

[Tom L.]

Evidence shows that animals that are about to be slaughtered are terrified and panic the same as we would. You don't have to know that you are going to die to experience terror at the danger. Besides which elephants are known to mourn the deaths of other elephants and surely carnivores, at least, understand that there is a difference between life and death. Their prey certainly looks terrified to me while it is being killed!

I absolutely believe that. Animals have more ability to feel and think than many give them credit for.

 

[Lou]

Evidence shows that animals that are about to be slaughtered are terrified and panic the same as we would.

Funny. one of the premises of the new Chicken Run is that they were keeping the chickens high so that they would walk happily to their slaughter, therefore their meat would be more tender and delicious.

 

[VeganRachel]

I absolutely believe that. Animals have more ability to feel and think than many give them credit for.

Agreed. Human arrogance of animal emotions is horribly IN-humane and egotistical. There are over 5000 studies about animal
emotions that the farming industry understands. They simply want to minimize animal pain so the "meat" is saleable, not because
they care about the animals...

 

[Brian W]

Funny. one of the premises of the new Chicken Run is that they were keeping the chickens high so that they would walk happily to their slaughter, therefore their meat would be more tender and delicious.

Any animal who survives long enough to reach the slaughterhouse is beyond frightened and confused. In fact, in that last stretch of the drive to slaughter, the terror only intensifies for cows, who've been proven to be intelligent and emotional, and who can smell blood from a half-mile away. Pigs, also renowned for being smart and sensitive, are highly empathic. Each pig feels when others are scared or stressed, and so they feed off each other's emotions—not unlike a crowd of people. The last thing any of these animals wants to do is step off the truck and march into the place that, to them, reeks of danger and death.

https://thehumaneleague.org/article/slaughterhouses