Vegetarianism has been done to death on these boards, so here’s some questions for carnivores:
Would you eat meat if you had to take a live animal, kill it, skin it, and take the meat off yourself?
What animals wouldn’t you eat? Bunnies, kitties, puppies, monkies, etc?
People raise their own vegetables. Would you eat an animal if you had raised it?
There’s always a bunch of geese in the park by my house this time of year. Would you go out there with a shotgun and get a free holiday meal?
That’s exactly what people did for thousands of years (still do, in some areas). So I guess after we got used to it–sure, we’d go out and kill & prepare our own animals.
Heat me up some o’ that kitty stew!
Given that I have enough trouble trying to figure out how to cook the ground beef I buy at the supermarket, probably not. But that’s just from a practical standpoint. From a moral standpoint, I would still be a meat-eater.
Hmm. Probably not cats or dogs, just because my cultural bias dictates such animals as ‘pets’ rather than ‘livestock’. As for monkeys- well, they’re kind of rare in the Maryland hills, though I suppose I could always go down to the National Zoo when I get a hankerin’ for monkey brains sauteed in panda stew.
Again, most likely, assuming I had the know-how to do it. Sorry; given that my grandfather was a farmer in Pennsylvania, I do have a tendency to see many animals as a form of tools and resources for humans to use.
Again, assuming know-how, and assuming that I wouldn’t be breaking laws by hunting in your local park (which is a big assumption), yes.
If I were hungry and the animals either did not belong to someone or were legally protected in any way, I would have little problem doing my own hunting.
I would not eat what tastes bad or has little nutritional value.
MR
From time to time I go fishing. I catch, clean, cook and eat the fish. I have been crabbing and have set crab traps. I have killed and eaten them as well.
When I was a child my father raised chickens. We ate their eggs. When there were too many roosters we would eat them. I have never killed one. However, I was present for the killing and learned how to clean them as well. One day I intend to raise chickens of my own. No need to worry about hormones or dirty processing plants or cruel treatment of your food then.
I would never eat a pet animal like a cat or a dog. I would (if hungry) kill and eat a wild rabbit but I don’t think that I could raise rabbits to eat. I think that it would be difficult to kill any mammal you have raised. Chickens are easier because they are so stupid it is hard to get attached.
If I were you I wouldn’t kill the geese at the park. They may be endangered. I think that you would need a hunting license. And, at least here, it is illegal to bring a weapon to state and county parks.
Been there, ate that, still got the stains on my T-shirt.
And note- the term is “omnivores”- there are very, very few humans that eat ONLY meat.
I always wanted to move to Bagdad and become a butcher. The t-shirt sales alone would be a mint!
My grandparents had a farm when I was growing up, and I have participated in skinning, grinding meat, etc. They even had a smokehouse in which to cure the meat. I don’t hunt for sport (no moral compunction, I just don’t enjoy it), but I could still get meat the old fashioned way if necessary.
Like Eve says, people have been doing it …well, since forever. It can be argued, I think, that most of us would not be alive today if our ancesters had not killed, butchered and eaten animals at some point in their lives.
Remember, it’s only a recent development in human history that such a large population can go through life without having any exposure to such a process.
It’s interesting to note that the rise of vegetarianism-for-ethical-reasons seems to go hand in hand with that.
My ability to eat meat is in inverse proportion to be ability to visualise the animal. Beef is no problem, and chicken is 99.9% okay to. I was able to eat my first 3 or 4 ducks with only a bit of squeamishness, but the one after that just looked too much like a duck and I only got halfway through it.
Of course, hunger does tend to make it easier. And personal familiarity (a pet, for example) would make it harder; not that I’ve ever tried that.
That’s a very interesting supposition, thanks for (no pun intended) the food for thought.
I refuse to hunt and kill Spam though. The little baby spams have such cute little faces 
I don’t consume much meat from land animals as it is, and when I do, I prefer to have it prepared by someone else. However, I do eat fish - a lot of fish. Fish flesh is the tastiest treat I can think of and I’ll take it over everything but beer and cheese. I have no problem with the idea of killing, cleaning, preparing and cooking fish for my own consumption. The end of the fishing industry would have little effect on my fish flesh intake. I am a fish junky and nothing in the world will stand between my favorite meal and me. Red meat and poultry? Too much damn work, really. The preparation of non-fish flesh is too complicated and icky. When I’m in the mood for bird or mammal flesh, I’m quite grateful for the industry that prepares it for me. If that industry were to disappear, I would give up such meats and eat humans.
Annie Xmas, my answers to your questions:
1.) Hell, yes; in fact, I think I am going to hunt some rabbits this fall. ( I want to keep the rabbit population down to protect my garden and to revenge myself for the loss of my beets).
2.) I wouldn’t kill cats and dogs because they are pets. This still doesn’t keep me from threatening my cats with the stewpot, but they ignore me as they generally do. I wouldn’t kill a member of an endangered species unless that meant the difference between life and death.
3.) Sure, I did this as a kid when we raised a cow or two every summer in order to eat it.
4.)If I thought I could do it without endangering any bystanders and If I thought I could away with it.
Specifically vegetarians, whom I suspect to be quite tender and succulent.
Yup. Done it. Only way to get decent-tasting vension or goose/duck (the farm-raised kinds don’t taste as good)
Bunnies, no prob. Dogs and cats? Um…only if I were very hungry. With dogs and cats I have a cultural bias, and with cats, in particular, I understand the meat tastes terrible (based on reports of the taste of big (lions, etc) type cats). Monkies? Hmmm. I’ll waffle. If I were hungry enough, I probably would. Depends on what kind of monkey.
I’d draw the line at gorillas/chimps/orangutans (“OOK!” said the librarian.)*. Somehow it seems too close to cannibalism. (short of a Donner party type situation)
It’d be harder for me, but…yeah, I think so.
Yum! Roast Wild Goose for me (and a veggie stir-fry and a nice rice pilaf for you!)
Fenris
*Obligatory Terry Pratchett reference to Orangutans.
Annie X-Mas writes
Okay, I’ll make sure and ask my dog and cats when I get home. I’ll also try and get in touch with some of the foxes and birds of prey that roam my neighborhood. Maybe I’ll even get lucky and run into one of the black rat snakes. Oh, and of course I should check in with the sharks down the hall (I work in an Aquarium). Just so you get a nice broad-spectrum sampling from the world of the carnivores.
I’ve noted that most of the earth’s carnivores do precisely that (except maybe for the skinning part–many of them eat the skin, too) with no qualms whatsoever.
Many carnivores have very narrow diets based on range, availability, dietary needs, and what is within their ability to catch. However, there is probably at least one type of carnivore out there somewhere that will do for each of the animals you listed. The foxes in my neighborhood, for example, are pretty quick to snatch up the bunnies and small cats (and pseudo-dogs, too, for that matter) they run across.
Actually, most carnivores are able to find prey on their own without having to go through the trouble of raising it themselves, though there are some animals that do cannibalize members of their own species. As for the shotgun thing, well, most carnivores do very well with their own claws and teeth…oh, wait a second. Did you mean to address the humans on this board? Silly–humans are OMNIVORES, not CARNIVORES. You can tell by looking at our teeth.
If you’re going to use those types of terms, you should at least learn to use them correctly. This is one of my niggling pet peeves about vegetarians. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies; in fact, most of my meals are primarily vegetables and carbs with a single meat entree thrown into lunch or dinner. I am NOT a carnivore. I am NOT a herbivore. I AM an omnivore.
Oh, and I also agree with the idea another person alluded to: that healthy vegetarianism is the luxury of a prosperous society. With enough research/education, you can get all your essential amino acids and iron from plants. Many of our ancestors, particularly those of us of Western European descent, did not have that option.
As for the actual OP, I think it all depends on what you become accustomed to. I have no problems with slaughtering farm-raised animals, especially those that were raised for that purpose. And, as someone else posted, I understand the distinction between pets and animals raised primarily for food. As for shooting the geese, well, that would depend on a)how hungry I am, b)how annoying they are (what, you don’t think geese can really, really get on your nerves after a while?), and c)what local laws allow.
MicheLe
Since it’s already been covered, I’ll forgo the differences between omnivore and carnivore.
Having grown up on a small family farm in Pennsylvania, I don’t think I would find it all that difficult. Although we weren’t set up to do the slaughtering ourselves because of the volume, we took the animals to the slaughterhouse and often brought the carcasses back to do the butchering ourselves. At least, we did up until the point that my grandfather retired from being a butcher and we couldn’t use the shop any longer. We raised sheep for the most part, although we had goats occasionally.
Bunnies were no problems, but like others have already mentioned, I have a cultural bias against dogs and cats. I’d probably also steer clear of the whole monkey/ape family. Whether I’ve anthropomorphized them or not, it’s still like eating a cousin I think.
See above.
What’s worse, we actually used to sit around the dinner table while enjoying a lamb supper and tell stories and annecdotes about the actual animal we were eating.
Yeah, I know, we were weird.
Ummm no, because hunting in a city/municipal park is probably highly illegal as well as unsafe. Actually, even though I was raised in an area that had a strong hunting I never had much fun with it. That’s not to say I couldn’t if I had to, it’s just not something I’d do for enjoyment.
Yes, have done.
I’d try anything once, as long as it wasn’t poisonous.
Yes, if I was hungry enough or if that was the purpose for raising it.
Yes, if it was legal.
Of course, I find the supermarket to be far more convenient. Also, I find that for the most part cows, pigs, chickens, etc. are more tasty than all those exotic animals for the most part (like emu and kangaroo and the like).
PeeQueue
for the most part