I'm just curious. Do vegans have pets?
I'd guess plants or pet rocks.
I was vegetarian for over a decade (now I rarely eat fish, but no meat) and have always had a cat. I feed her cat food with meat. I know vegans with cats and dogs. They feed them meat. I've also known vegans who think it's ethically wrong to keep pets. Depends on your vegan.
This thread seems unusually quiet...
Original Post by ibie:
I was vegetarian for over a decade (now I rarely eat fish, but no meat) and have always had a cat. I feed her cat food with meat. I know vegans with cats and dogs. They feed them meat. I've also known vegans who think it's ethically wrong to keep pets. Depends on your vegan.
Thanks for reply. What about animal products in cat or dog food? That's what confuses me. It's OK for vegans to feed their pets but not themselves??
I feed my boyfriend meat but not myself. It's his choice to eat it (he doesn't eat anything farmed though, which makes it easier for me). Cats are carnivores, they eat meat. My cat is pretty good about feeding herself, one of the vegans I've known lived in the countryside and let her cat do the same. The others with cats are fairly picky about what food they feed them and where it comes from, but if someone isn't willing to feed a cat meat they probably shouldn't consider keeping a cat (dogs are a little different I guess since they're omnivores). I don't know if the view point is different where I live (Scandinavia, which is traditionally very meat-eating) than elsewhere.
The "pet" trade is another industry that exploits animals for profit and human desires. Long term breeding has caused countless problems and is not considered ethical by vegans. Too many unwanted pets (or pets in the unfortunate situation of being given up due to home foreclosures and financial problems) are being put down or starving in the streets or are turned over to less than ideal homes.
That said, vegans might have "pets" rescued from abusive or dangerous situations that would otherwise suffer and die needlessly. Most ethical vegans that I know will not buy an animal from a pet store or breeder, but might adopt a rescue animal from a shelter or organization dedicated to ending animal exploitation (such as greyhounds or race horses). These animals are generally neutured or spayed so it is not contributing to keeping an industry alive. The goal of shelters is to have zero animals in them, and they are generally nonprofit organizations. Also, myself included, there are vegans who become vegan and already have "pets" such as birds or dogs etc. What to do with them? I have two caged birds I have had for a number of years (I went vegan in Feb 2011) and I am not simply going to let them go outside. They would die and are not suited for this climate. Uprooting them from the home they have known would not help them either and they would still be someone's "pet" somewhere. I am doing the best I can to care for them and I let them fly freely in the house under supervision at specified times, and plan to donate the cage to a rescue organization when my birds pass on. I will no longer support that trade and will not buy more birds ever. We also have a dog from a shelter adopted before I became vegan. If it were my choice I would not have any more dogs unless I was in a better place financially and was able to feed my dog completely vegan, but the dog is my husband's too and he is not a vegan. Also our dog has an incredibly sensitive stomach and can only handle one particular type of dog food. Trying to switch her to a vegan diet, even gradually, at her old age would be very very difficult for her. In the future if my husband wants another dog he will be the one to buy the dogs food and care for it with vet bills etc (though I am sure I would still love and help the dog). I do the best I can to avoid the use of animal products and derivatives to not support exploitation, cruelty, etc, but I live in an imperfect world (and the point of veganism is not about total purity and perfection) and there are circumstances I can not avoid (such as a car made with animal parts although I ride my bike instead of drive where I can, but there again my bike has animal parts in it although vegan bikes are starting to come out...). I make choices where I can to the best of my ability while supporting work to end animal and human exploitation, cruelty, and needless suffering. It's not a perfect process.
The Vegetarian forum is always quiet. You could make a thread here about eating cake made out of aborted fetuses and it would get like 2 hits...
Original Post by carmenxox:
The Vegetarian forum is always quiet. You could make a thread here about eating cake made out of aborted fetuses and it would get like 2 hits...
I only come to Calorie Count once in a great while anymore and check in on the vegetarian forum. There are a few really happening vegan forums where a lot of people go and converse more comfortably on a regular basis, and those are usually moderated, screened before one can join, and off limits to omnivores except a designated area where they can ask questions. This way vegans do not have to put up with having to constantly defend themselves and deal with attacks and thread hijaking by anti vegans/vegetarians.
Original Post by naturebound:
This way vegans do not have to put up with having to constantly defend themselves and deal with attacks and thread hijaking by anti vegans/vegetarians.
Right! I post a ton on the vegan forum I frequent, but when I get to the Vegetarian forum here... it's weird. People seem to delight in being as contrary as possible. Why post here if you don't even eat a vegetarian/vegan diet and are against it? Just to cause trouble?
Back to the subject. I have a dog and I love her very much. She eats meat, I don't. She sometimes begs me for tofu, but she's confused. I don't see why a vegan couldn't own a pet, I guess, especially if you choose to adopt a pet. It seems a very loving and animal friendly thing to do.
Veganism is opposition to animal commodification.
Vegans therefore don't FUND animal commodification, let alone animal death, for human use, even if that use is secondary, IE, to feed a non-human "pet" (a type of commodified animal) or companion.
I would say there shouldn't be an ethical issue with vegans feeding meat to their pets. Here's the thing- cats and dogs were MADE to eat meat. Humans weren't. A pet can be healthy on a vegan diet if they get enough protein, but their teeth are obviously for hunting and eating flesh.
If they had a pet such as a rabbit, horse, bird, etc. then that would be a good pet, they do not eat meat.
Original Post by steph132:
I would say there shouldn't be an ethical issue with vegans feeding meat to their pets. Here's the thing- cats and dogs were MADE to eat meat. Humans weren't. A pet can be healthy on a vegan diet if they get enough protein, but their teeth are obviously for hunting and eating flesh.
If they had a pet such as a rabbit, horse, bird, etc. then that would be a good pet, they do not eat meat.
Vegans having "pets" in the first place, IE an emotional tampon or plaything obtained for their own use, is an oxymoron, let alone funding the deaths of chickens, cows, and pigs to feed him or her. Nutrition matters, not the source so much. It's just a matter of definition- it's hard to say one ethically opposes certain practices whilst participating in them. I know a lot of vegans care for animals who would otherwise have died in the streets or been euthanized as resultant of rampant animal overpopulation thanks to the pet industry, but caring for an animal for the sake of the animal is very different from PURCHASING an animal as a commodity to fulfill a want or need.
Original Post by irisinwaiting:
Original Post by steph132:
I would say there shouldn't be an ethical issue with vegans feeding meat to their pets. Here's the thing- cats and dogs were MADE to eat meat. Humans weren't. A pet can be healthy on a vegan diet if they get enough protein, but their teeth are obviously for hunting and eating flesh.
If they had a pet such as a rabbit, horse, bird, etc. then that would be a good pet, they do not eat meat.
Vegans having "pets" in the first place, IE an emotional tampon or plaything obtained for their own use, is an oxymoron, let alone funding the deaths of chickens, cows, and pigs to feed him or her. Nutrition matters, not the source so much. It's just a matter of definition- it's hard to say one ethically opposes certain practices whilst participating in them. I know a lot of vegans care for animals who would otherwise have died in the streets or been euthanized as resultant of rampant animal overpopulation thanks to the pet industry, but caring for an animal for the sake of the animal is very different from PURCHASING an animal as a commodity to fulfill a want or need.
Well said!
