Do you think less people would be vegan if animals were treated well?

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Question by shanainka bytch: Do you think less people would be vegan if animals were treated well?
I feel that most vegans avoid eggs, wool, and honey because of the abuse that happens to the animals to get these products.

Eggs: All you’re doing is taking away it’s menstrual product, but sometimes, the chickens are kept in confined cages, they get debeaked with out anesthesia, yadayada yada

Wool: All you’re doing is giving sheep a haircut, but the sheep get some of their flesh cut off, because it attracts maggots, they’ll end up in the slaughterhouse…

Honey: All you’re doing is taking honey from a hive, but they kill some of the bees, and give the living ones some sucrose-water mixture, something like that.

My point is, the basic process of getting these items is not cruel in and of itself, but the main industrial methods of getting these items are. That’s why vegans avoid them.

(Please be respectful. I come here to get opinions and ideas, not to be bullied or insulted)
I think my point is, most of us vegans don’t want to contribute to animal harm. We do this by avoiding these products, where harm is involved, but ONLY because the people who procure these things harm the animals in the process.
Hawkeye, can you elaborate on why you think such a world would end in warfare and sadness, a world of no zoos…
People here seem to mistake “well looked after” for “free-range”. I think when Criminal minds says “well looked after” she means “well looked after”

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11 Responses to Do you think less people would be vegan if animals were treated well?

  1. No matter how well the animals are treated, they are still killed in the end. Hens kept for their eggs and cows kept for their milk are killed when production declines. Male baby layer chicks are killed once they’ve hatched. Males born to dairy cows become veal. And you are still exploiting an animal. As for bees, I heard that one possible cause of hive collapse is the crappy honey substitute the bees are fed when their honey is taken.

    And because sheep shearers are paid in volume–how many sheep they get–and not any other set wages, they have no incentive to be careful when shearing.

    There’s no way to avoid abuse in these products and really no need for anyone to use them. So why not be vegan?

    VeggieTart -- Let's Go Caps!
    June 7, 2014 at 8:00 pm
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  2. How about the treatment of animals who get mercilessly killed while preparing the soil for a “vegan” crop? Veganism is an oxymoron in my book.

    Taste The Rainbow
    June 7, 2014 at 8:33 pm
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  3. Have you considered what happens to all the male chicks, most are gassed or crushed to death, it would not be profitable to keep them alive. The egg-laying hens will still end up at the slaughterhouse.
    Sheep are slaughtered at a fraction of their lifespan, they are primarily kept for wool and are never allowed to die of old age but also end up in the slaughterhouse. The production of wool is inextricably linked to meat production. A sheep always ends up on someones plate or kebab stick. A sheep grows far much more wool than it needs for protection from the elements, this is especially cruel in countries such as Australia that have hot climates. After being sheared of its wool a sheep becomes immediately susceptible to the elements.
    Honey production causes much suffering for the bees, as you said, many are harmed or killed during harvest. Many hives are killed off during winter to save money or the bees are fed sugar water so we can steal honey. I do not relish the taste of bees vomit anyway.
    It would not be profitable to farmers to put the animals welfare first. Sheep will never be allowed to live their full lives, they are sheared for wool but slaughtered for meat. It would be costly to keep male chicks alive and it would be impossible to harvest honey without harming them. None of these animals are loved and never will be, they are just commodities, part of a cruel industry.

    mermaid
    June 7, 2014 at 9:12 pm
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  4. Most animals ARE treated well.

    It doesn’t make any difference to vegans how animals are treated. Being vegan is not about animals…it’s about being vegan.

    So, no, I don’t think treatment of animals would cause fewer people to be vegan.

    Daisy
    June 7, 2014 at 9:56 pm
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  5. Would you be offended if I told you “I really don’t care”?

    PETER
    June 7, 2014 at 10:34 pm
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  6. I think generally according to most vegans they don’t want any use of animals despite it being treated well because they still killed for meat HOWEVER this is a contradictory and oxymoron as in a veg/vegan world there will be no farm animals, zoos, wildlife projects and pets would not even be alive.

    Actually in a vegan world more animals would actually die due to the demand of food production.

    Also vegans have no interest making animals lives better, they only want the end of meat production and would happily stand by and watch animals continue to suffer until if ever their demands are met.

    Don’t understand your comment about wool but I can tell you that the post from “little mermaid” lacks knowledge of near enough anything as the wool market has crashed for a long time, farmers get very little for wool and sheep are generally kept for meat. As for dying of old age it seems “little mermaid” has yet to see what dying of old age actually means for a an animal.

    Edit the reason for starvation and warfare would be due to the fact that not every country would be able to grow much or nothing at all so will depend like many other countries on particular areas that’s well suited for all year growth so this will cause increase in food cost and possible war to control these areas. Also to ensure a food source GM, chemicals, pesticide, land development and industrial green houses will be created for the demand. The amount of land needed to feed the current population would be outrageous. We would need addition ground to assure crops increase of disease or weather conditions. A world depending solely on vegetables where they can’t be moved or protected without large buildings it would be so easy to fall into a crisis of famine. Only the rich and the privileged would likely be able to afford food hence the famine and war.

    As vegans don’t believe in using animals for food the likes of pets and zoos would have no food source and a lot of vegans don’t believe in any human intervention at all so make it natures will for animals to become extinct. Many animals and environments would be devastated and destroyed just in the production of a vegan diet.

    Hawkeye85
    June 7, 2014 at 10:42 pm
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  7. Although your information is incomplete, you seem to understand the cruelty that’s involved in large-scale livestock raising.

    David
    June 7, 2014 at 11:10 pm
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  8. But some are treated well.
    I do not understand why vegans cannot eat eggs if they know the chickens are well looked after.

    Criminal Mind
    June 7, 2014 at 11:35 pm
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  9. After reading some of these comments, I am gritting my teeth.

    As a vegan, I dont aim for perfection — Veganism isnt about being perfect in the sense that we believe that we are going through life without hurting anything (plant, animal or human), it’s about aiming to live a more compassionate life.

    So for all of those saying veganism is an oxymoron, no, sorry, you’re wrong. Most vegans arent stupid, we understand that there will always be something we are missing or something that we are participating in that harms animals or the environment — but the bottom line is, we are only TRYING to become more COMPASSIONATE.
    This world operates on a power basis — the strong prey on the weak. I try to avoid that in any way I can.

    To answer your question, I think yes, there may be less vegans — but there will always be a select few who are trying to avoid a certain product or process because nothing is perfect.

    Meg
    June 8, 2014 at 12:13 am
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  10. You make a good point. You could probably go one step further and wonder if there would be less vegetarians if, except for the killing part, meat animals were treated better.

    Louis
    June 8, 2014 at 12:19 am
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  11. If animals are being killed just so humans can consume them, that’s not “being treated well.” Also, eggs aren’t a hen’s period. Hens don’t even *have* periods. We don’t consume them because of how cruelly the hens are treated. This also, Criminal minds, is why we vegans don’t eat eggs: the hens are treated horribly, even at a “free range” farm, if that’s what you’re trying to say.

    Jessica
    June 8, 2014 at 1:02 am
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