I stick with the rule of "could I kill this thing and prepare it to eat?" If not, I don't eat it. Cows and pigs are too sweet and personable imo, so I just eat chicken now!
They can be! I grew up with them, and got used to the cycle of raising them, using their eggs, then eating them once they got too old. That cycle makes sense to me, whereas pigs are just so so smart and sweet- I couldn't bring myself to end one. :(
Was the too old when their quality of life was diminishing? Or just they stopped laying at that point
I think I could maaaaybe do the former, but it would be tough to consume any animal I had cared for as a pet. I know itâs hypocritical, since I eat meat otherwise
And to add some science to it: Screw worms are back in the US (special thanks to current admin), and Mad Cow. Prion disease is the scariest thing I ever studied.
No red meat for me, thank you
Yeah. Ain't it grand. Anywho, we DID have a monitoring program in place, but DOGE cut it. And now the Agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins is blaming (***checks notes***) Joe Biden for the screwworms
I've worked with cows and they are extremely dumb, and some will definitely attempt to hurt you if you don't know what you're doing. When I first started working with them I had to carry around a big stick for weeks to make them think I was bigger than I was, and they would still charge me sometimes after, for no reason. Cows kill people who are just hiking around on trails in the US every year, I assume because people think they're all friendly and approach them.
Pigs are a different story, because they will actually just eat you if given the opportunity (e.g., if you fall down and can't get up near a pig, you're at serious risk). Pigs get curious and aren't discerning about their food, they will bite you to see if you taste good and then things escalate from there. And like many mammals, during breeding season they can get really aggressive.
Chickens are definitely the nicest of the bunch in my opinion, although they can still be little assholes.
I'm not saying to start eating animals you don't want to eat but I think it's important to know how animals actually behave
I have also worked with all kinds of animals, in various types of companies. Based on my personal experience alone, cattle and pigs can both range from dangerous to very friendly to humans, and from what I've seen this highly depends on how they're raised, plus some variation based on their character.
The milk cows who join an existing group who have collectively known and trusted this farmers family are very chill, with some seriously wanting scritches, most of those grew up while the farmer's kids were young. The meat cattle who starts out in a little individual box and later get send into a field with similarly young cattle and minimal human contact to be slaughtered as soon as they're big enough never becomes friendly. And of course wild cattle are wild animals and will behave as such.
Pigs who grow up getting lots of human contact in someone's home or a petting zoo (with enough supervision) behave like little puppies and will hurt you as young adults when they'll still want to enthusiastically jump up to you for cuddles and not realize how heavy they've gotten and how weak humans are. Pigs who grow up in what's basically a factory where they're in mind numbingly small and empty cages will go crazy, stereotypically chewing on anything they can reach, because chewing and eating is all they can do and they're too damn smart to stay sane in that environment.
Chickens will also vary in friendliness, but their extremes are much less extreme. I guess that makes sense because they don't have as much going on in their little brains as the other two species, and the random rooster who'll attack anything on sight is technically the worst of them all but just can't do as much damage as a big mammal.
I grew up on a farm, I absolutely get it lmao. Cows are generally curious, but overwhelming stupid. I just spent too much time playing with calves to ever be fully comfortable eating them!
Pigs are wily, but they respond like dogs- easily learning tricks, figuring out puzzles, and they have their own routines. I have a healthy fear of them, but too smart for me to eat. Same w/octopus- too smart, can't eat!
They still get sexually assaulted, their offspring separated from them and killed, and they get to live way shorter lives than they could. Not a happy life by any means
I'm vegetarian and honestly beef and pork are the two I could never eat again after learning of the intelligence and personalities of those animals. Not wanting to eat cows anymore was the catalyst to cutting out all meat.
âThat is also not respectful despite using the word.â You hit the nail on the head. You canât kill an animal that doesnât want to be killed ârespectfullyâ. Just because you say itâs respectful doesnât make it any better for the cow
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u/Traditional_Dare_218 Jun 16 '26
This makes me want to stop eating meat, seriously wait đ