I was going to make a very similar point in my last post, but forgot to address this issue.
I have known quite a few vegans in my time, and not one has subscribed to foolsguinea’s “Peaceable Kingdom” model of animal relations.
Well, I’m a vegetarian and I used to own a kingsnake. Snakes in captivity mostly eat mice. On occasion, I was required to kill the mice myself. Not fun, but necessary. People have accused me of hypocracy, and I’ve never really understood why. I’ve chosen to eliminate meat from my diet. That’s all vegetarianism is. Everything else is just related dogma.
Now I live with a roommate and I just have the cat. He eats normal, off-the-shelf catfood. I also encourage him to chase flies. I, however, will continue to eat veggie burgers.
Every vegetarian cat owner I’ve known (and that’s quite a few) has fed their cat regular, packaged cat food. Most of them were also pretty good about taking their animals to the vet regularly. Vegetarians are usually animal lovers and are interested in the health of their pets.
To everyone talking about what’s “natural”: there are millions of feral cats in the world. They don’t live as long and are in worse health than domestic cats.
Yes, we have removed our pets and food animals from the “natural world”. We regularly alter them surgically (neutering, spaying). We give them “unnatural” medical treatment. We house them in “unnatural” conditions designed for our own comfort (even livestock are housed in conditions that make it easier for us to manage them). We feed them processed, “unnatural” foods. Those “unnatural” foods are scientifically formulated to give them complete nutrition and guarantee health. The “unnatrual” medical treatments are to guarantee their health (and to fatten them before slaughter). The “unnatural” housing gives them shelter from the elements and predators.
I think most people would rather see their neighbors doing all that for their animals than letting them roam, “as nature intended”.
I think we’re done with the factual answer here.
If anyone feels the need to continue the debate, feel free to open a thread in Great Debates.
This is closed.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator