Hasbeen
"How on earth did our civilisation get to the stage where we fund people to produce this garbage. It really is a pity that so many people with so little to do with earning their own food, produce this rubbish at our cost."

Welcome to the world of Humanities departments, where one's personal moral zealotry is passed off as "knowledge."

Humans are omnivores. We are built to eat both veges and meat. That is a scientific fact based upon out biology particularly our dental structure. Its not a choice. Its our choice to go against our omnivorous nature if we eat only vegetables.

Eating animals is not cruel, it is natural for us.

A number of species could cease to exist if we didn't eat them because being bred for food is what keeps their population numbers up.

I find that there is a balance in life, with anything. Too much of one things is dangerous because it disrupts the way things work. Imagine a builder who only built with wood, and refused to used metal of any kind, how would his house stand strong, what would he use for screws or nails?

Likewise with veganism, or animal rights, or whatever the dilemma may be, there is a point when too far is harmful to society.

That being said, I do agree that we have to care about, and treat animals with love, just like any human relationship. I think unnecessary abuse is rarely justified, but I do think that society in general would benefit from caring more about what really matters, whatever that is.

Neutral, the best thing about the cup is that if you don't like it, simply change the chanel.

That way you can have your way and leave others, who by the way are mostly having a fun time, to go about their one day in the year enjoying what they enjoy.

As always, there are a lot of negative replies when it comes to make people think about animal cruelty. I know them all; we were born as omnivores, men can't live without meat, vegans are extremists, etc. I am always surprised about the negative replies I get when I try to raise animal welfare. Just for the record: I'm not a vegetarian although I have been one at several stages in my life. After having seen videos of the cruel treatment of male calves that are killed within five days of being born because we need their mothers to produce milk and male calves are useless, I have started to cut down dramatically on my dairy intake and I have replaced my beloved huge latte intake with soy lattes. I don't know if I can keep it up, nor do I know if I can resist eating my favourite food, cheese, but I want to give it a try. I have also tried for years to choose for the vegetarian option when eating out, that is provided that option is tasty. So I'm sort of treading the middle ground here.
Honestly, it is no drama to give the way animals are being treated some thought. I'm not opposed to the meat industry as long as I know animals are being treated in a humane way till the end. And that's exactly the problem: when I have a piece of meat on my plate, I have no idea if and how much the animal that had to die for my meal has suffered. And that can be a very uncomfortable feeling.

KeesB has it ever occurred to you that you have fallen for a pile of bulldust propaganda. I would expect that you are regurgitating this propaganda, & that is the reason for the negative responses.

Probably others have their BS detectors tuned to a higher level than you.

My mate the dairy farmer, would never be able to afford to kill useful animals that have a market value. In Fact they mate about half their cows, [well they AI them], to high quality beef bulls. This produces a beast that is no use to the dairy, but one that is very good for the vealer industry.

These are sold to a number of specialists veal farmers, who run a small dairy herd who's milk feed the calves to about 6/8 months. Depending on the season, some may go to 12 months, but the part dairy cow breading makes them produce lower quality beef, so they are not grown further.

Dairy farmers used to do this themselves, but have to work so many more cows to make a living today, they don't have the time. It requires a lot of hand feeding, & care.

My property, which I bought to run the kids horses had been a specialist veal farm before I bought it.

What does it take to get the message to the animal libbers that any injury, bruising, or damage to the hide dramatically reduces the value of an animal, & most farmers treat their stock with more care than many folk do their kids.