Any Vegetarians/Vegans here?

[James2014]

Are you arguing against the mistreatment of animals on factory farms or against killing animals at all?

They are not the same thing.

And your vision of happy animals in the wild is not accurate.
Their lives can be nasty, brutish, and short; their deaths are usually violent.

I am arguing that mistreatment of animals while alive , and the killing of animals for food is wrong. Both are examples of mistreatment more broadly.

Yep, living in the wild means being subject to cruelty. Living in a farm means being subject to cruelty. However, the suffering caused by one animal on another is not of ethical concern as both animals are amoral, they cannot value and change their behaviour. People on the other hand have a duty not to cause suffering, and while they are responsible for the suffering on farms, they are not responsible for the suffering in the wild.

And even if they were, it would still not justify farming animals, as we could just breed animals in animal sanctuaries, where they would live lives free from the horrors of both the farm and the wild.

We should also question if the experiences while alive in the wild or on a farm is more worthwhile. A wild environment not only allows the animal to live in a rich complex environment, but supports biodiversity more broadly which has positive repercussions beyond just that animal but supports the environment and allows many more animals to be able to live their lives.