Does a cow really comprehend its current situation when it is in the slaughter house?
Cow is placed in position, *womp*, cow is dead. Where's the suffering?
Don, what exactly do you mean by "comprehend" here? If an animal suffers horribly for an extended period while in a slaughter house or a factory farm, but doesn't comprehend the situation it's in, is that then ok ?
By the same reasoning, would it be ok to allow babies or certain mentally hadicapped people to suffer in intense and prolonged pain because they don't understand the situation there in or what's really happening to them (besides the fact that they're feeling immense pain)?
As to a "Cow is placed in position, *womp*, cow is dead.." Sadly this is a horribly (for the animals sake) ignorant statement. If it were only that way, and for the most part it used to be before the onset of factory farms and agribusness, then the ignorance of so many people in regards to the animals welfare would not have such horrific consequences. It would be nice if all the animals were still reaised on family farms where the could live semi-normal lives and be able to exihbit their natural behavior.
As I didn't read the original thread I don't know for sure but I have a feeling your question as to whether a cow comprehends it's situation or not is related in your mind to it's ability to suffer( and/or be tortured). Ie. If an animal feels prolonged pain (yes cow's feel pain as they didn't evolve nervous systems to NOT feel pain) but isn't able to "dwell" on the pain and it's own inability to allieviate itself of it, is that considered suffering. Is that what you were getting at by "comprehend"
The most recent, easily accessible, educational, and inclusive source of information on this topic (including recent scientific input on animals "ability" to suffer) is a new documentary called Earthlings: "
Narrated by Academy Award Nominee Joaquin Phoenix and featuring music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby, EARTHLINGS is a documentary film about humankind's complete economic dependence on animals raised for pets, food, clothing, entertainment and scientific research. Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, EARTHLINGS chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit. Powerful, informative, controversial and thought-provoking, EARTHLINGS is by far the most comprehensive documentary ever produced on the correlation between nature, animals and human economic interests"
http://www.isawearthlings.com/This film is available to be downloaded for free and if anyone is interested in watching it email me at mikeyg95@hotmail.com and I'll point you in the right direction.
So Don or anyone else, if you have the time, watching this documentary from start to finish is a good way to gain a firm (non-ignorant) basis on which to start a conversation about the science,and ethics on the modern "human-animal" relationship.
I should really go read the past thread on this topic and I'm going to starting tomorrow so sorry If Ive misinterpreted antying here.
As to my own eating habits, I don't believe eating other animals is necessairly unethical. My problem is with the terribly inhumane way a massive number of animals are now raised and treated before and while killed. This extendes to more than just food however and this issues are relevent to products with animal ingredients, testing etc.
I consider myself an "ethical omnivore." Since I've become interested in this topic (since last year after attending a series of lectures at my university on the topic) I refuse to eat any meat, dairy, eggs from animals raised in factory farms etc. I eat a mostly vegetarian diet and I eat organic yogurt, cheese, free-range eggs, and free-range chicken. Like a few others have stated here before, considering our evolutionary history, from what I've read and from personal experience, I think there is certainly a segment (how large is a different topic) of the human race than would do very poorly on a vegan diet at this point in our species history.