Meat eating ethical?

[MJ the Skeptical]

Anyone here know of good arguments against the notion that eating animals is unethical? Why exactly is it ok to cage a cow its whole life, slaughter it, and then eat it but it's not ok to cage a human its whole life, slaughter it, and eat it? What exactly is the difference that makes the former ethical but the latter unethical?

If your only argument is "Duhhhh cow tasty!" then please leave. Serious arguments only please.

There is no good argument for the insipid position that it's ethical to eat meat, other than it feeds lots of people. However, that need for meat can be fixed someday with technology, so the question of ethics is not solved. The tasty argument is sadly your best card other than the need for meat to feed people argument, which is short-sighted anyway. The fact of that matter is, it is unethical to mass slaughter sentient animals, plenty of animals are capable of higher thought and social cohesion, including the ones we eat like Pigs. A different way to look at it is, it could be us on the menu someday if more advanced beings came and wanted to force feed, mass breed then eat us. Other countries are already starting to give certain animals some forms of person-hood. And dogs for example can be given someones inheritance which is sort of implied person-hood already.