"But Animals Kill Other Animals"

Some humans have a hard time wrapping their head around the concept of veganism. Of ALL the excuses we hear for perpetuating the mass slaughter and brutality towards the innocent, the one I have probably given the most thought to is the “but animals kill other animals” argument. Humans feel morally justified because it is “the circle of life.” I could talk about this one for days, there is so much that can be said!

In reality this is a flimsy excuse to justify bad behavior. We say “not to pass judgment” but we do, and MUST do, every single day. We judge serial killers, child abusers, and animal abusers. We ALL claim we are morally opposed to these issues. We judge who we will leave our children or pets with, who we want to work with, and we judge what we sense is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. In our claims to be a ‘higher’ species we assert compassion and morality and nonviolence as desirable and coveted. We assert killing and raping and harming is bad.

We LOVE our dogs and cats. We buy them food, toys, even clothing. We tout how much we “love” animals and “See? I LOVE animals – I have a dog!”

But then we harm, force, dominate, intimidate, abuse, and kill others…others who are just as thinking and feeling as our beloved dogs, cats, or even human children. We make no sense. Lions do not claim morals or thank another prior to ripping them apart. In fact, few humans could witness such an event and go on to partake in the use or consumption of the flesh and blood of such horror. I am grateful for that, as I would NEVER want to be someone who could kill an animal. I would never want to depersonalize another individual like that. I view all as I would my dog or cat – an individual life who I do not want harmed, I do not want to be in fear, and I would not want killed.

Would you stop a man from beating a dog on the street? Of course most of us would. But these same people - “animal lovers” - are complacent with the screams of the slaughterhouse? This is utterly irrational.

The comparisons are nonsensical when examined. When a wild animal eats for food it is purely survival. They do so driven by necessity. Lions and other predators do NOT keep animals they claim to 'love' as pets while they confine, enslave, abuse, and kill others. They do not pass judgment - they are driven by instinct. Humans are not instinctual killers – children are TAUGHT to kill. Additionally, predator species of animal (such as lions) do not destroy and pollute the planet with their food choices. They are not wasteful. They are neither blinded nor ignorant. They do not place poison in their food or contaminate everyone else’s food. They are not killing our Earth. They do not have sick, twisted practices for food sourcing that is driven for their greed or profit margin. They do not contribute to global famine with their diet. They do not consume excessive amounts of water for the mechanized production of LIFE as commodities or profit margins.

So, we base our *moral* “judgments” on tradition and habit rather than a true consideration of what is our “instinct” or even what our true morals would REALLY define as “right and/or wrong”?

FURTHERMORE, we DO NOT need meat & animal products to survive or for health, this is scientific fact, humans flourish on plant-based diets, so our killing is completely unnecessary and driven by bad habit and tradition instead of thoughtful action.

So when people say “But other animals kill”, it seems they are simply rationalizing irrational comparisons. If one pets their dog/cat yet supports and contributes to the abuse other species of animals - if they claim to "love animals" - but are not vegan? They have been trained - basically brainwashed - to enable these contradicting feelings to go on unquestioned.

Personally, I do not want to cause ANY being any suffering if I can avoid it…no more than if they were right here in my own home and part of my own family.

Vegans get the ‘what would you eat on a deserted island?’ (generally the same as zombie apocalypse-type questions) question a lot - but we ask nonvegans - if you lived somewhere with thousands of choices that did NOT cause suffering, then why would you?”

Great quote from Robert Grillo:
“We recognize the important moral distinction that true carnivores kill out of survival and we instead kill animals for reasons of pleasure and profit. But I wonder why so many think it is even plausible to make choices based on what other animals do. Do we fornicate in public like other animals do? No. Do we kill our newborn children based on the fact that certain animals have done so under certain circumstances? No. Yet when it is convenient for our argument, we claim that eating animals is natural and normal because some, not all, animals do the same. And we distort and misrepresent vegans by claiming that they seek to ‘veganize’ the entire animal kingdom. Regardless of what other animals do, if you are not vegan, you pay someone to harm animals in a way that would traumatize you to even witness, unnecessarily, when you have an abundance of animal-free options to choose from. By going vegan, you will not become perfect or ‘holier than thou’ or even cruelty-free. You’ll just have reduced an enormous amount of suffering to innocent beings who have done nothing to you just by making some simple dietary and lifestyle changes.”