2) Based on the article, the horse butcher claims that all their meat was from working horses, but that they were butchered before the "prime" of their life (before 9 years) or after 14 years because the meat is more tender then. These working horses are fed a good diet, so the meat is supposedly good tasting compared to farmed animals who are fed specific food to get them fat & large faster.
The contradictory way in which we see one living creature's value over another is the reason I became a vegetarian. We bred dogs to be (insert reason that's not food) we also bred cows to be (insert reason that is food), We are the factor here, not the animals. Just because we bred animals to be a specific way doesn't itself justify the industrial slaughter of one versus another.
With that said, my choice was: embrace eating dog, or stop eating meat. I chose the latter, but I fully support anyone who chooses the former, but hope they don't do so under the premise that one animal we control is somehow more appropriate to kill and eat than another.
> With that said, my choice was: embrace eating dog, or stop eating meat.
Why is that the choice? I'm not eating dog since there is no way I can ensure that the dog was treated with some minimum level of care before being killed. Probably a lot of the meat I eat was not killed in the most ideal conditions, but I like to think that I am buying better raised animals these days.
> The contradictory way in which we see one living creature's value over another is the reason I became a vegetarian.
My idea is that if we look at the economic value of animals it becomes less contradictory. Some animals taste good, can be put to work, give us enjoyment, provide materials we can use, are cute, are just fascinating etc. We're willing to bear the cost of keeping these around in some way. Others have really little going for them, e.g. the mosquito.
> The contradictory way in which we see one living creature's value over another
Just playing Devil's advocate here - what's contradictory about assuming that humans are the most important thing in the universe and everything else is here to serve us? I'm not saying it's the ethical thing to do, but contradictory is not a charge I'd level.
2) Based on the article, the horse butcher claims that all their meat was from working horses, but that they were butchered before the "prime" of their life (before 9 years) or after 14 years because the meat is more tender then. These working horses are fed a good diet, so the meat is supposedly good tasting compared to farmed animals who are fed specific food to get them fat & large faster.
The contradictory way in which we see one living creature's value over another is the reason I became a vegetarian. We bred dogs to be (insert reason that's not food) we also bred cows to be (insert reason that is food), We are the factor here, not the animals. Just because we bred animals to be a specific way doesn't itself justify the industrial slaughter of one versus another.
With that said, my choice was: embrace eating dog, or stop eating meat. I chose the latter, but I fully support anyone who chooses the former, but hope they don't do so under the premise that one animal we control is somehow more appropriate to kill and eat than another.