FACTORY FARMED ANIMALS TORTURED AND SLAUGHTERED TO FEED SO CALLED "COMPANION ANIMALS"

[Nath Miles]

It is becoming clear that as a society we are becoming more and more speciesist.

 

What do you think about those who feel it is completely ok to factory farm, torture and slaughter animals so as to feed them to sustain so called companion animals (dogs and cats) rather than having them put to sleep?

 

 

Does this not seem to be completely hypocritical?

 

Many prominent animal rights advocates struggle with this question.

With many feeling the best way forward is the one with the "least harm" to ALL animals.

If this is the case then it would appear that the "least harm" would then be to humanely put the huge over population of excess companion animals to sleep as to keep them alive and sustain them hundreds of animals would have to suffer and  die.

 

So why is it that our society has become so speciesist?

 

[Bonn1997]

I think you've raised a critically important (albeit unpleasant) topic. What about the fact that most people feed their companion animals cheap food that consists mostly of animal byproducts? As far as I understand it, additional animals are not being harmed when animal byproducts are sold. Buying animal byproducts still reinforces the evil meat industry, but you'd have to weigh which does less harm: Reinforcing the meat industry or putting down defenseless companion animals. That may be a grayer issue but my gut tells me reinforcing the meat industry is less bad. What are your thoughts?

 

I apologize if this discussion has already come up. I'm new here and I haven't read through all of the 123 replies.

[Tim Gier]

Welcome to ARZone! Thanks for contributing to the discussion. 

 

I don't know what "animal byproducts" are.  For instance, I imagine that the bodies of minks who are skinned to make fur coats are a byproduct of that industry, and that those bodies are somehow traded for vital profits. 

 

If it were true (and in some cases it may be) that unless we feed some other animals the dead bodies of still some other animals, then we have a moral dilemma for which there can be no good solution.  However, I suspect that in many, if not most cases, it isn't true that most domesticated nonhumans will only survive if fed other animals.  There must be better alternatives.

[Bonn1997]

You may be right but both of my dogs didn't do great on purely vegan diets, and I tried many forms of vegan kibble and vegan supplements. They had little energy and would vomit and their stomachs would make noises at times. I now feed them vegan kibble in the morning and kibble with meat in the evening and they seem to be thriving. I hate it and wish they could be 100% vegan, though.

 

I haven't read all of the science on vegan diets for dogs but what I have read was only mildly impressive. If there were long-term, double-blind, randomized trials showing no ill effects of vegan diets for them, I'd be more impressed but I'm not aware of any. (Obviously the ethics of animal research come into question here, but that's another topic.)

[Bonn1997]

Oh and thanks for the welcome.

[Tim Gier]

I don't keep any other animals and it's been a long, long time since I have, so I will defer to your experience with this.  I do know that it is a difficult issue, and that it probably must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, considering the needs of all the individuals involved.

[blackpanther]

we spoke of animal food here, maybe you can have a look at it

http://arzone.ning.com/forum/topics/transitioning-rescued-dogs-and

As far as cats are concerned, they're perfectly OK with vegan food. I don't live with dogs, so don't know, but why wouldn't they be OK with vegan food?

[Bonn1997]

That's a good question since the the same nutrients should be available on a vegan as on an omnivorous diet. Maybe they weren't digesting the nutrients as effectively? I'm not sure. I tried several brands over several months and didn't get good results, though.

[Nath Miles]

Cats require different nutritional requirements compared with dogs. This is why they cant be fed vegan diets.

[blackpanther]

I don't agree with you Nath, my cats are happy and in good health, and on a vegan diet. In the other post that deals with the subject, we put several links and studies that show vegan cats are okay. Of course, vegan food provides them with all they need, specially taurine.

[red dog]

That's great, Barbara ... can I ask what kind, and how long he or she has been on that brand exclusively?

[red dog]

Thanks, I'm also transitioning my kitties to Ami and they are eating it, but I sometimes wonder if they're eating enough and if it's safe to make it their sole food. With a few possible exceptions, they wouldn't touch any of the other vegan foods I tried--either canned or homemade. (One of my cats seems to have eaten a bit of fake meat and some broccoli, but I'm not 100 percent sure if she or the dog got the broccoli.)

 

Elizabeth Collins' podcast was helpful and so was the AA thread before they disallowed lurking. Strange policy.

[Bonn1997]

Thanks for the welcome, Tim. Let me reply to this statement: "I don't know what "animal byproducts" are.  For instance, I imagine that the bodies of minks who are skinned to make fur coats are a byproduct of that industry, and that those bodies are somehow traded for vital profits."

In your case, I think we could both agree that there is no competing interest justifying the use of animals. Even if the fur coats is just a byproduct, reinforcing this industry financially is hard to justify. In the case of companion animals, though, weighing the pros and cons of feeding byproducts of the meat industry might lead to a different conclusion.  For example,

Pro: Many more dogs who would otherwise be put to sleep will live.

Con: No additional animals are tortured or slaughtered but the meat industry gets reinforced financially.

Obviously I am making the (reasonable!) assumption that companion animals won't be fed vegan diets by the mainstream public anytime soon. So, you basically have to weigh the importance of saving a dog's or cat's life against the harm of giving money to the meat industry. I could elaborate if necessary but I suspect you and I will agree that insofar as I have validly framed the issue, the pro outweighs the con.