Veganism & vegetarianism

[robvalue]

I'm vegan, for ethical reasons. I became vegetarian at about 12, when it finally occured to me what I was eating. I became vegan some 10 years later, after learning more about the dairy industry.

My opinion on it all, because you asked:

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I'm fundamentally against animals being property and being bred primarily for financial gain.

I think one day what we do to animals will be looked back on with the same total disgust we feel when we look at slavery now. The phrase "humane slaughter" sums up the irony of it all to me.

The conditions animals are kept in are often horrific. There are regulations, but in my opinion they are woefully inadequate, even when they are properly enforced.

The dairy industry revolves around repeatedly impregnanting cows and then removing their young to take the milk intended for them. This causes them huge distress, and the constant milking procedures damages their udders so badly they have to eventually be removed from rotation for medical treatment. To me this is even more cruel than the meat industry, which is why I'm vegan.

As far as ethics go, I see eating fish and eggs as the least offensive, as long as the hens are kept in genuine free-range conditions. But frequently even places claiming to be free-range have been discovered to be not much better than battery. And if you buy anything with just "eggs" in the ingredients, it's almost certain to have come from battery hens, which is an unimaginably cruel process.

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