Below you’ll find a response to Collin Nevel’s attempt to justify animal use on Non-Dairy Kerry’s FaceBook post from the 4th of December 2015. Collin’s original text is posted after this response.

Dear Collin Nevel,

You are presenting a false dichotomy. There isn’t a choice to make between the killing of 60 billion animals annually or letting all those animals running free tomorrow. The world won’t adopt a 100%  plant-based diet all of a sudden. All we have to do is stop breeding farm animals and phase out animal agriculture over a certain period of time. The only reason why there are billions of farm animals in the first place is because farmers and corporations are breeding them.

Ecosystems have been regulating themselves for millions of years, no human interaction was ever required. Why are you concerned about the well being of deer when at the same time you are complicit in the mass killing of farm animals? The answer to this question is that you make profit with farm animals, that’s why you don’t think twice getting them killed.

Humans sadly industrialized mass killing for profit. The meat, dairy and egg industries heavily influence public opinion by white and green washing devastating farm practices with multi million dollar ad campaigns. Don’t lie to yourself by saying that we take what is already there, that’s simply false.

Almost 800’000’000 people on the planet are starving partially because of animal agriculture. Only 55% of crop calories are eaten by people directly ( http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6053187/cropland-map-food-fuel-animal-feed ). We could feed 4 billion more people with existing crop land ( http://discover.umn.edu/news/food-agriculture/existing-cropland-could-feed-4-billion-more ). Please tell me again how animal agriculture feeds a starving world population ( http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/animalwelfare/HSI–The%20Impact%20of%20Industrialized%20Animal%20Agriculture%20on%20World%20Hunger.pdf ).

The concept behind animal welfare is that animals should be treated humanly while they are alive before getting slaughtered because it’s assumed that we need animal products in our diets to be healthy. This assumption however is false, humans don’t require animal products to live healthy lives. Since consuming animal products is completely unnecessary, we have to shift our focus away from animal welfare towards animal rights. In other words our main concerns should be about animal use which is not justified due to lack of necessity. We have been brainwashed since child hood that killing animals is normal, natural and necessary. We have become blind to this indoctrinated ideology called carnism ( https://youtu.be/o0VrZPBskpg ).

Traditions can never justify unethical actions (appeal to tradition fallacy). Slavery used to be a tradition, child labor used to be a tradition, women were traditionally not allowed to vote, genital mutilation of girls is still a tradition etc. Just because something is a tradition doesn’t mean we have to continue practice it. Do you think we should continue those traditions? I don’t think so!

There are plant-based substitutes for cheese, meat, eggs, sausage, cakes etc. In case you haven’t noticed the demand for plant-based foods is growing by the day. Business leaders are investing in companies that are making plant-based foods because it will be the future. ( http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21645497-tech-startups-are-moving-food-business-make-sustainable-versions-meat ). Please don’t forget that processed meat and read meat cause cancer ( http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/10/26/processed-meat-and-cancer-what-you-need-to-know/ ).

By comparing the killing of innocent animals who never done anything wrong to murderers and rapists on death row makes you look completely out of touch with reality. Killing without necessity is wrong no matter what.

You don’t seem to know the difference between getting killed and dying. You won’t be killed to “benefit” another species. Your statement is highly fallacious. Killing doesn’t show respect to the victim being killing, it’s the exact opposite.

 

Collin Nevel’s text on Non-Dairy Kerry’s FaceBook page:

 

Non-Dairy Kerry, you truly believe that if we just let them run wild they will be better off than they are now? Look at the feral pig problem in Texas they run amok they’re everywhere. overpopulated which causes them to suffer hunger and shelter issues. Not to mention the fact that they will still be on this planet contributing to the climate change, hunger, disease, air and water weight pollution issues just as you claim they do now. Look at the wild deer population in Wisconsin, unchecked, CWD and other herd specific diseases would over take the entire population if it weren’t up to human intervention. Hunters that come across deer infected with CWD or other diseases or mutations call them from the herd to ensure a more prosperous population for their down the road. You could argue that natural selection would take care of this but at what greater cost to the entire population? But I digress, if cows were to run wild wouldn’t it be fair to say they would eat, pollute, and take up just as much land resources as they do now? So say we do end animal agriculture, what happens to the animals then? Are they not still here? Do they not still utilize as many resources of the do now?

We are only trying to benefit by creating something out of what is already there, that is, feeding a starving world population. You can argue it however you want but you cannot deny the fact that the world is starving for food, there a third world countries where people go to bed hungry every day.

Furthermore, if animals truly wanted to run wild then why is it that when they break out of my pasture do they return to where they know there is food, water, and shelter? It would seem to me that my cows are perfectly happy where they are, they produce plenty of milk and as you should well no, said cows do not produce very much milk. You speak as though the cows are in terrible misery and I want nothing more than to be away from where they are. Every morning I look at my house and see nothing that indicates that. Until you can show me solid proof that cows do not wish to be milked fed and sheltered everyday, then I suggest you hold back on your wild claims. And as far as the Holocaust goes, I can see parallels between what you think and what the Holocaust was, however I would say it’s very far fetched idea to believe that one stems from the other. Also, did you read what I wrote I stated that animals are a RESOURCE for many things. They create components for many things, just like everything else has components inanimate or otherwise. And to say animal agriculture can be completely eliminated by giving up anything is completely ludicrous. Do you have any idea how much culture revolves around animal products? Feta cheese, gyros, Hasenpfeffer, Swiss cheese, hot dogs, the cheese that goes on every pizza, the cream that makes cream puffs at the State Fair, the butter on English muffins, the eggs in every hearty breakfast, the bacon craze that has swept the nation, lumpia a traditional Filipino dish, sushi a favored Asian delicacy, the list goes on. Can you really say the bile completely eliminating animal agriculture that everything will be so much better? Look at how much culture is based just around food. Also, i wont lie, my family sends one cow per year to the local butcher who ends their life in such a manner that it would be considered a  more humane death than any death row inmate would have. But do you know what? That cow provides for my family, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, and their children. And I know when I die, I want my death to be able to provide for those I care about and for those who care for me just as that one cows does. So to say we treat them less than human is really an inaccurate statement, as you can see, I give them every respect that I give myself and beyond