+508 In reality, chickens, pigs, and cows are the same as dogs and cats, but the penalties for purposely hurting a dog or cat can put you in jail; when animals that we eat are kept in horrible conditions and slaughtered with no penalties. Amirite?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Chickens can't sit on command, there's the difference. As for cats, people eat cats all the time with no penalties, it's the dogs that matter.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Pigs have been shown to be more intelligent than dogs and cats.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

So according to you "more obedient" = "more intelligent"? That's not how it works.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

People eat dogs too... Just because cats won't do tricks doesn't mean that they aren't intelligent.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

My cat's can do tricks and are obedient : D

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Even if they weren't as smart then that doesn't mean they deserve to die more. It bugs me how people judge other cultures for eating cats or dogs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a vegtarian and I have a cat that I love, but I just think that we could be a bit more open minded.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I think it's more the difference between hurting an animal you've sworn to take care of versus hurting an animal in order to eat it.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

People are species-ist

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Well if a farm abuses it's animals it gets shut down... like that one video a few years ago of people pushe cows around on lifts and stuff. They got arrested.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Have you ever been to a farm? Most farms keep chickens in huge cages, all crowded together, and they cut off their beaks so they won't attack each other.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

oh. well there's a couple farm outside of my neighborhood that have cattle and chickens. they treat them pretty nicely. but they're organic farms, so maybe that has something to do with it...? I don't know.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm talking about the farms that mass-produce animals for large business corporations. You visit one of those, and you're convinced.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

uhhh ok then.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Whutsurnaym is right.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I never said he wasn't right

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yeah the living conditions aré terrible for animals like that, i agree with this post 100% .all livestock are very smart and productive animals

by Anonymous 14 years ago

What's with the accent mark above "are"?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

my ipod touch was in español :p sorry bout that.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

It's alright haha.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Regardless of what animal it is, all living creatures are equal. It's pure idiocy to love and protect your dog but go for a weekend of hunting and shoot a deer. Everyone who disagrees with this post is a complete hypocrite.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The cows and chickens wouldn't even be alive in the first place if we didn't want them for food.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm just saying that if a dog needs to put it down, we give it an IV. if we need to kill a cow, its sent to a slaughterhouse. and who's to say dogs and cows are "different"? they are both living animals, one is just more common for a pet because its more manageable.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

But the cows and chickens wouldn't have ever been able to live or even exist if we didn't want them for their meat. I'd rather live a little then serve my purpose in the world than never have lived at all.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

even if that meant a future of death and suffering? I'm sorry i just disagreed with ur "serving purpose than never have lived at all"

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Well, fine. I just know I'd rather live a little then die than never live at all.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

so you'd rather go to concentration camps, starve, endure pain and suffering everyday until you die just to "feel alive"? interesting..

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, actually. I'm not even lying.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The cows and chickens would probably choose to not be born at all if they knew the pain they would have to go through. Most slaughter house animals don't run around happily for most of their lives on a large field and then have a quick and painless death at a slaughterhouse. Instead many are beaten and abused and herded into such large groups that they can't even move and some have to stand in their own poop since there's not enough room and too many animals. Besides, just because they wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for us doesn't mean we can abuse them like that.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

uhm..I'm pretty sure that cows, chickens, dogs and cats all lived perfectly well on their own without humans before we categorized them and domesticated them. and you are a sentient human being. we are talking about animals. the point of this post is to point out that two very similar organisms are being treated in very different ways for no apparent reason.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Chickens are needed for eggs and cows are needed for meat. Idiot.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

What? I'm sorry, I just don't get why you think I don't understand where meat comes from.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Dogs and cats don't have much meat, let alone edible meat. Also, dogs and cats are DOMESTICATED. These organisms are NOT very similar. And another note, the penalties for purposely allowing poor living conditions/cruelty is the same all around whether it's cows or dogs. Are you fighting for the end of killing cows, or the promotion of eating cats/dogs?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I just have to say one thing, cows and chickens and pigs are domesticated too.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Point valid, I guess I used the wrong terminology here, and I guess terminology means everything in such a debate, my mistake. But dogs and cats are domesticated for the sole purpose of companionship and sometimes herding (rarely food). Cows, and chickens are domesticated for their meat, muscle, and leather.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Dogs are eaten in many countries. Do research before posting crap like this.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Woah, where did I say that they were NOT eaten? I am well aware that they are eaten in other countries, I am also aware that this fact does not change the fact that there's not much meat on these types of animals. Please read posts correctly before posting crap like this.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Big dogs have more meat than chickens. And though the penalties are the same, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are treated the same.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Some people do eat cats and dogs. And most animals are, by law, treated well before death. Bloody vegitarians. I don't care what you believe, you just don't need to preach it.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm not a vegetarian (I refuse to give up meat) but I completely agree with the OP.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

So you believe that animals shouldn't be killed for food, yet you refuse to stop killing animals for food? Or maybe you believe that animals that aren't used for food shouldn't be protected?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I just don't think it's our place to decide that the life of a dog is worth more than the life of a pig simply because it's more convenient. I believe that they all serve purposes(some for food and others for protection) and to value pets more just because our society insists on anthropomorphising them isn't right. Most of the laws regarding treatment of animals are the same for domesticated animals and livestock and I agree with that. What I don't like is people's widely differing reactions regarding the same treatment of two animals when the only real difference is that one animal is domesticated and the other is livestock. I think it's all hypocritical.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

True, but most of the animals used for any purpose have some reason for being chosen. No really intelligent animals are used for food, just like no weak animals are used for protection. And in the end, people are just going to choose the animals they've been taught to eat.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Pigs are extremely intelligent...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Really? Damn pigs, they have everything! Intelligence, 30 minute orgasms...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm not a vegetarian..

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Hmm, well you have the same ideals as my vegetarian ex girlfriend, which is probably where the hostility came from. Sorry about that.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Read a book, why don't you? Animals in slaughterhouses are commonly treated horribly.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I didn't say they weren't, I said they had the legal right not to be.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Well, it's not followed.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

What the hell do you expect me to do about it? There's a bloody law about it, and you just keep whining to me and thumbing up your own comments...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I don't expect you to do anything about it, I'm simply stating the facts. And what does thumbing up my comments have to do with it? That's irrelevant.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Then why bring it up? Also, it's annoying, especially since you're also thumbing me down for disagreeing.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

All animals, both domesticated and livestock, are protected under animal rights laws and regulations. We consume livestock rather than domesticated animals because they offer the best source of nutrition. We use slaughterhouses because they are efficient. I see no problem.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The only reason that some animals are domesticated is because at some point in the past, they were more useful to us than livestock. The only reason livestock is more nutritious is because we spend the time to breed them and fatten them for that purpose. Dogs could be just as nutritious if we put forth the effort to make them so. Other parts of the world consume the meat of animals many would consider "pets" and have no problem. But anyway, I think the idea of the post was to address the fact that society puts domesticated animals on a pedestal and decides their lives are worth more than livestock for no reason other than personal preference.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Livestock are consumed because they are more beneficial to the human diet. Domesticated animals are not consumed because they are not as beneficial to the human diet. That is not personal preference, that is fact.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Dogs are consumed in other countries. So are cats. However, Hindus consider cows sacred and would never eat them. That "more nutritious" statement was bull. We eat them because we always have, and the general population would never eat dogs only because they are traditionally our pets..

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, cats and dogs are consumed and cows are not consumed in parts of the world. The majority of humans, however, follow the same livestock vs. domesticated animal tradition. This tradition was not based on personal preference, it is centered around the nutritional benefits of consumption of certain animals.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

So, if a whole bunch of people got pet cows, they wouldn't be eaten? I don't think so.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Explain to me how this statement relates to anything I have said.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

"The majority of humans, however, follow the same livestock vs. domesticated animal tradition." I was confirming that, according to your logic, if cows became widely used as pets, that they would no longer be eaten. I have yet to get an answer.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

That statement does not correlate to anything I have said, but I will answer anyway. Answer: Cows would never become domesticated pets because of their nutritional worth. However, if, for some bizarre reason, cows became domesticated pets, then obviously people would no longer consume them. That's pretty straightforward, really.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Thank you, that's all I wanted to hear.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No, no. Thank YOU for not proving a single point.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Most livestock like cows are domesticated and most livestock has a bunch of hormones added to their diet which makes them not that nutritious, and the problem with slaughter houses is many of them abuse their animals before killing.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

(parrot+are+awesome!): I was using "domesticated" to refer to pets. Yes, livestock are given unnatural hormones and steroids, but even without these they offer more nutritional value than, say, dogs or cats. Simple put, cows, pigs, and chickens naturally offer more meat.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

correct me if I'm wrong.. a chicken has less meat than a large breed dog.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The nutritional value of eggs + the nutritional value of chicken meat > nutritional value of dogs

by Anonymous 14 years ago

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

(Tu Madre): Animal Farm ? :)

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Really it's just a post saying that the animals that we use for food are treated terribly and that it's wrong. I dont see why people are making a huge deal out of what the OP means

by Anonymous 14 years ago

thank you, that is exactly what I meant by it. :)

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Livestock animals are not treated terribly.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, they are. Not all, but very, very many.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Just look up a few slaughter house videos and you'll see how bad some are.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I wouldn't say "the same", but I know what you mean. Good post.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

merci. (:

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No problem.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Very surprised by the number of ppl who agreed...now if they could just carry over their opinion to their diet and cut out meat. Less/no meat makes you healthier, helps our environment and erases that 'I love animals but eat them' dissonance

by Anonymous 14 years ago

http://www.meat.org/ Oh, they aren't treated badly?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I 100% agree because, if someone sees a picture of a dog with cuts all over its face and it's obviously been abused, people are gonna freak out and call the person that did it a murderer and such, but if they see a picture of a steak (which is actually worse in this sense), the reaction will be completely neutral or positive. And that's wrong. They're both animals regardless of species.

by Anonymous 14 years ago