[CaptainHaplo]

Ok, there are huge differences between animals euthanized because of overpopulation/no adoption and animals that are bred and raised purely for the purpose of becoming food. There is a marked contrast between an animal that is (by the majority of the world) considered suitable for making into a pet and an animal that is grown with the express intent of its future consumption.

With that said, I find it abhorrent that any animal be intentionally mistreated, either in life or at its death. There are other ways to euthanize that remain cheap. A 1 cent bullet to the back of the head would insure the death of a dog or cat while allowing them to leave this life with no pain of fear. Its obvious that Mexico has a surplus of bullets at the moment...... but thats another topic.

As for the "mass production" factories that Skybird castigates, he misses a few points. Lets take Chickens for example. Its obvious they do things different in Europe, because in the US the chicken is killed with a large, V shaped electically conductive knife. As the V lowers, at some point one or the other side will touch the chicken, shocking it into unconsciousness. the knife continues to lower, seperating the chicken head from the body. There is no ability for the chicken to avoid being shocked, so it cannot avoid being unconscious when it is killed. Is it fearful at the time? Very likely though there is some arguement about how we as humans relate to fear compared to less developed animals. Regardless, its safe to say that most of the animals do suffer from some level of fear during the process. Now lets look at the same process at a "collective" farm of the style Skybird suggests. While its true that the animal does not suffer any (unknown amount) of trauma due to transportation, someone has to chase the bugger down in the yard or pen. Chickens don't like to be chased. Nor are they entirely stupid - as they get less trusting of humans when humans regularly come take one of the group, never to be seen again. So now you have a free range chicken that is running - literally - for its life (whether it knows it or not). How humane. Catch it, and carry it to wherever your going to chop its head off. Ok, now instead of getting knocked unconscious, you have a bird who is laid across a chopping block, pinned and neck exposed, flapping like crazy trying to get away, until someone drops the ax on it neck. Forgive me if I don't see the "humane" part of this.... As for "mishaps" - no way someone with the axe could be off on their aim at all is there, maybe miss the bird entirely or just nick it?

The reality is that both sides have their positives and negatives - and when you decide to eat meat, your going to have to accept that the animal you are eating could have felt fear and pain at the end of its life - regardless of the source.

Lets deal with that word - humane. See anything familiar in it? Its the word HUMAN - and is rooted in assigning human emotions to animals as if they were capable of human consciousness. Nothing wrong with that, but it can also be overdone, because animals are not capable of human thought. They do not deal with fear the same way humans do, because they lack the ability to cognitively do so. Fear in an animal is purely a flight or fight response, whereas humans can modify that response with reasoning. Still, I do think we should protect animals from as much suffering as we can.

But before this whole thing dissuades you from eating meat, just think of nature as well.... is it "humane"? Ever watch Discovery planet? I think the gazelle that gets pulled down by lions probably felt quite a bit of fear, as well as pain, in its final moments. The fish smacked from the water and thrown onto dry land can't feel real secure when it struggles to breathe and can only flop around on the ground. What of the sheep slaughtered by wolves or coyotes? Or even worse, the animal that falls in an accident, breaking its leg and thus slowly starving while in constant pain? I could go on and on with such examples, but the point is obvious. Life by its very "nature" often ends with fear and pain of one type or another. The same is true for many humans as well (of you doubt this, go to a local hospital).

Even if every person on the face of the planet were to go fully vegan (vs vegetarian) today, it would not end the pain and suffering of all animals. It would help, admittedly, but it is not realistic or accurate to paint with broad brushes a huge segment of the food industry out of a sense of what amounts to personal shame over what you ingest. Is the system perfect, no - but being humans, your kind of foolish to expect a perfect anything.....