• dat_math [they/them]
    ·
    7 months ago

    If you eat meat and this kind of story upsets you, please do some careful examination of why the industrial animal torture industries do not.

    • JayTwo [any]
      ·
      7 months ago

      It's because killing an animal companion for being disobedient and then telling your children what happened and why you did it, is textbook serial killer behavior.

      It's not the same as say running a homestead and telling the children why some of the livestock are gone now.

      Only speaking for myself as I can't get into others heads, the red flag is her power trip. The dog only existed to serve her despite her daughter's attachment to it and would have lived to old age if only it obeyed.
      That's the terrifying part.

      People who killed the family pet for failing to be obedient tend to eventually work up to humans.

      People who work the buzzsaw at a chicken plant, as gross as it is, don't.

      • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        The dog only existed to serve her

        Uh.. What do you think animals bred for slaughter are?

        • JayTwo [any]
          ·
          7 months ago

          That's a different definition of "serve".
          Pigs aren't trained to do tasks then slaughtered if they fail.
          They're bred specifically for slaughter and then killed when they reach prime weight.

          A "life on the farm" story doesn't convey an implied threat of if you cause me problems you may get shot in the head like this does.

          • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
            ·
            7 months ago

            Yes, instead they're bred explicitly to kill, they don't even have the chance to earn the right to live a full life serving humans

            • JayTwo [any]
              ·
              edit-2
              7 months ago

              Sure but that's a separate convo.
              I just answered the question of why the governor of South Dakota boasting about shooting her (and her daughter's) dog dead because it wasn't progressing along with training in a way she approved of is more horrifying to me than the existence of the slaughter industry.

              • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
                ·
                7 months ago

                It's fair to say this person is much more deranged than the average meat defender, but the core issue of animal slaughter remains in this instance and in meat consumption. An animal's life was cut short because a human decided they wanted to do that

          • dat_math [they/them]
            ·
            7 months ago

            A "life on the farm" story doesn't convey an implied threat

            it would if the children in the metaphor see the family livestock being treated by their parents the way industrial dairy and beef cattle are typically abused instead of some homestead fantasy

      • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
        ·
        7 months ago

        farquaad-point The carnist is here to tell us what animals are okay to kill and eat!

        • JayTwo [any]
          ·
          edit-2
          7 months ago

          I answered the question asked, why this is different, and more upsetting, than livestock slaughter.

          Animal ethics aside, the weird kid who keeps killing outside cats for meowing too much is much scarier than the weird kid who eats nothing but hotdogs and chicken nuggets.

          If you can't understand that I don't know how else to explain it to you.

          • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
            ·
            7 months ago

            Can you explain why some animals are livestock that can be killed whenever you feel like eating them and some are animal companions that deserve to live until old age? 🤔

            • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
              ·
              7 months ago

              killed whenever you feel like eating them

              wait the steakhouse from the simpsons is real? I thought there was some kind of schedule dictated by agricultural processes and cyclic demand projections.

              • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
                ·
                7 months ago

                running a homestead and telling the children why some of the livestock are gone now

                • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
                  ·
                  7 months ago

                  hmm, i'd have to talk to some homesteaders but I think that process is high enough effort that they're not going "oh i want steak tonight" and chowing down on a fresh kill

      • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
        ·
        7 months ago

        It's ultimately treating animals as property to be done with as the human sees fit with no regard for the animal's desire to live

        Sure, this is more mask off in that regard, but it's still the same core issue. All animals deserve to live whether they were brought into the world to be used for the clothing industry, factory farming, or a pet

          • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
            ·
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            This is pretty into the weeds, the vast majority of people could stand to at least attempt vegetarian diets rather than meat for every meal which is where the original commenter's point on "industrial torture industry" comes from

            If everyone who is able to do so were doing so, the fraction of a fraction of the population who was unable to for whatever reason would not result in the torture factories present today

            You're a regular poster and I know this is good faith, but it's using niche situations to cover for regular, widespread atrocities

              • RION [she/her]
                ·
                7 months ago

                Roughly 30% of western society has ailments that could prevent them from going full vegan.

                do you know where i could read more about this? tried googling the figure but couldn't find anything

              • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
                ·
                7 months ago

                I'm not nitpicking, but I did say at least attempt a vegetarian diet which would address the crux of the original comment regarding widespread animal torture which never explicitly even mentions veganism

                It's not as though there is going to be some sweeping legislation to outlaw meat and kill meat eaters which is akin to examples you're making here wrt COVID or trans people. If 70% of the population made a conscious effort to stop eating meat that would be a tremendous benefit for their health, the welfare of animals, and the climate. And as a bonus, they'd save money doing it

                  • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
                    ·
                    7 months ago

                    I'll be honest, I don't know if I've ever seen a post like that made in sincerity and it's not what I'm advocating for

                    I don't deny a subset of the population may have legitimate dietary constraints, but their existence doesn't excuse the vast majority who do not. I have seen those who do not use the existence of those people as a shield for their own spinelessness in refusing to cut meat from their diet for purely selfish reasons

                    And this is coming from an autistic person who cannot stand the texture of beans even today and would sit at the table for hours as a kid refusing to eat vegetables I did not like. If it's important enough, adjusting your diet is an accomplishable task. It's clear that some posters here do not feel the unnecessary suffering of animals is important enough for them to make a relatively simple lifestyle change and it's disturbing

                    • VILenin [he/him]M
                      ·
                      7 months ago

                      This type of “what about if I had a disease that would kill me if I didn’t eat meat” concern trolling is intended to distract from the underlying issue of mass slaughter. The actual justification that this kind of industrial-scale suffering is acceptable because the food tastes good annd non-human animals don’t matter isn’t as clean an image as disability-rights advocate.

                      I don’t recommend further engagement.

                        • VILenin [he/him]M
                          ·
                          edit-2
                          7 months ago

                          Sure, educate me, but don’t pretend that every Reddit-tier anti-vegan is arguing from a sincere concern for these people. I know that there are certain conditions that make going vegan very difficult. However this is a systemic failure to provide alternative sources of protein and nutrients. Killing billions of sentient beings every year is bad. And if you want to argue otherwise, I don’t see why it would then be unethical to kill and eat a dog. And from the animal’s point of view, your reasons for killing them don’t matter.

                          Every time someone cites a medical condition, I’ve been able to explain that it doesn’t absolutely require eating meat. It’s harder, but it’s preferable to murder, which is the underlying issue you seem unwilling to confront.

                            • VILenin [he/him]M
                              ·
                              7 months ago

                              I’m not a medical expert so I’m not going to question what you said. I know people in person who claim that they cannot go vegan because of a nut allergy or something similar so that is what I was referring to earlier.

                              My reaction is because of my background. I grew up in a family that raised livestock. All throughout childhood I had these books that taught me to think of animals as friends. I liked to play with the chickens. And then one day they would be gone. For me it might as well have been grandma being taken out back and shot.

                              Still, it took until I was 25 before I went vegan. It finally occurred to me that I couldn’t justify eating meat. I still cannot justify it, under any circumstances. So I am left with a feeling of understanding, yes, but the horror will always be there. I’m an emotional person.

                      • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
                        ·
                        7 months ago

                        Yeah think I'm going to tap out of my second experience in this specific topic struggle sesh. It's so tiring seeing people who know better advocating pointless cruelty when they'll criticize libs and chuds for the exact same thought patterns

              • dat_math [they/them]
                ·
                7 months ago

                necessary for ideological veganism

                what do you mean by this?

          • booty [he/him]
            ·
            7 months ago

            Food is a basic need

            This justification can be used for killing and eating your dog, the local squirrels, your next door neighbor, your grandma, and literally anything else that can be digested on the planet. The fact that you must eat something does not mean that it is morally justifiable to eat anything.

          • BeamBrain [he/him]
            ·
            7 months ago

            Am I vegan? Technically, yes, I eat only plant stuff 99% of the time

            Am I a non-cannibal? Technically, yes, I eat only non-human stuff 99% of the time.

    • Hestia [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      7 months ago

      Did she eat the dog? Or did she just kill out of pure malice when it didnt conform to her desires? There is a difference between killing a dog that provides companionship and the evils of mass farming.

    • chickentendrils [any, comrade/them]
      ·
      7 months ago

      Probably worthwhile for most but there's something particularly fucked up to most people about killing pets, I'd hope at least. With livestock there's a whole historical context of homo sapien omnivorousness to explain it.

      • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
        ·
        7 months ago

        that kind of post is just pretending to not understand the cultural significance of pets. If there's actually a point behind it besides antagonizing people in a post about child abuse and violating social norms, I don't know what it is.

        • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
          ·
          7 months ago

          You're deliberately misreading their post

          It says "why industrial animal torture industries do not" not that "industrial animal torture doesn't upset you just as much"

          Either you think pets are higher tier beings than the equally smart and full of personality animals killed for food or you don't. It's not that hard

          • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
            ·
            7 months ago

            Either you think pets are higher tier beings than the equally smart and full of personality animals killed for food or you don't. It's not that hard

            nah i think it's social categories, not moral ones. Cool i've deconstructed the categories of "pet animal" and "food animal" and think that if you want to keep a holstein as a pet or raise cats as livestock that's a little weird (historically, culturally, and logistically) but not some great sin just because the animals are flipped around.

            people keep lizards and weird bugs as non-traditional pets too, maybe it's easier to see compared to mammals that the thing that's special about a pet is that it's a pet, not the species.

            • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
              ·
              7 months ago

              No, the thing that is special about all of them is that they're living creatures that can experience pain and have desires to live in their natural environments

              Your example isn't doing any favors here. It's honestly more concerning that all that matters to you is the label you assign to a being that gives its life worth. You're explicitly acknowledging anything could be a pet that is meaningful to someone but some just get the shit end of the stick and are killed after a lifetime of torture instead

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
                ·
                edit-2
                7 months ago

                Now hold on.

                I'm a vegan, but I can recognize murdering your own pet as being even worse than murdering any other animal. The problem isn't that the dog is a pet, but rather, her pet. She just murdered a member of her family for pissing her off. That's serial killer shit.

                I had pet chickens before I was a vegan and if anyone killed them back then I'd fucking- well. They wouldn't kill anything ever again.

                • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  7 months ago

                  I don't know what part of the thread I'm in at this point, but I've said elsewhere here that I agree this is more unhinged than average carnism defense. The underlying issue I'm trying to tease out here is the imposition of a human's will upon the life of an animal because the human wanted to do that and didn't care about the animal enough to make a different choice

                  The parent to this developing struggle session was not equivocating the two, it was asking why one made carnists feel a certain way and the mass torture of animals for food doesn't

                  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
                    ·
                    7 months ago

                    The question necessarily implies hypocrisy on the part of carnists i.e. "if this woman murdering her dog makes you feel bad, you should feel bad when you murder animals" or even "you murder animals all the time, what right do you have to judge her for doing the same thing?"

                    I certainly read it as you trying to equivocate the two! And I doubt I was the only one.

                    • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
                      ·
                      7 months ago

                      If you eat meat and this kind of story upsets you, please do some careful examination of why the industrial animal torture industries do not.

                      The Internet is text based, assigning a tone to what is typed is purely a personal problem to put it bluntly.

                      They are asking why industrial animal torture is not upsetting but killing a pet dog is. Why is someone who feels upset about the suffering of a dog not also upset about the suffering of a pig, cow, or chicken? If it's purely the label of pet, we get back to the comment you replied to

                      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
                        ·
                        7 months ago

                        Vocabulary creates tone and "the industrial animal torture industries" is far from a neutral phrase. If you can't read tone it's a skill issue.

                        They are asking why industrial animal torture is not upsetting compared to killing a pet dog because they are equivocating the two.

                        "Pet" is not purely a label, it is the social relationship between pets and their families. That is what is so upsetting to people. Equivocating would make more sense if she had a dog-meat farm, because those aren't pets. Horrible, but only as horrible as any other blood farm that raises animals for slaughter. Killing pets, though, is clearly different. That's killing family. People are going to get upset about it.

              • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
                ·
                7 months ago

                is special about all of them

                this is about interrogating why people think pets are different from livestock, something common to mammals (and talking about desires gets a little weird, but anyway) isn't going to be the difference between them.

                You're explicitly acknowledging anything could be a pet that is meaningful to someone but some just get the shit end of the stick and are killed after a lifetime of torture instead

                yes. although to slide in part of another comment i saw pop up while typing this

                If it's purely the label of pet, we get back to the comment [queermunist] replied to

                i think it's the social relation itself rather than the label being a talisman. We even attach to inanimate objects the same way sometimes.

          • VILenin [he/him]M
            ·
            7 months ago

            Why should I interrogate my own beliefs when I can completely ignore them and make a bad faith argument turning it into a personal attack on my fragile carnist ego?

            Ask me why I think the systemic mass slaughter of sentient beings is ok? How fucking dare you? Have you considered culture you stupid vegan? Stop antagonizing me! frothingfash

            • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
              ·
              7 months ago

              Why should I interrogate my own beliefs when I can completely ignore them and make a bad faith argument turning it into a personal attack on my fragile carnist ego?

              Ask me why I think the systemic mass slaughter of sentient beings is ok? How fucking dare you? Have you considered culture you stupid vegan? Stop antagonizing me! frothingfash

              could you show me where i called someone stupid? there's plenty of real things to be mad about you don't have to make up more.

              • VILenin [he/him]M
                ·
                edit-2
                7 months ago

                Ancient carnist strategy: distract from the actual issue, make it about yourself.

                Another bad faith comment. I know you’re well aware of the bullshit you’re spewing but for all the toddlers out there learning how communication works, you don’t have to quote someone verbatim when caricaturing them.

                there's plenty of real things to be mad about

                I know the mass slaughter of sentient beings is a nothingburger to you but that doesn’t mean it is to everyone else :)

                you don't have to make up more.

                Indeed, it would be hard to make up something more depraved.

                But now you’ve upset me, responding to you made me forget about the oven and now my broiled dog is ruined. Please don’t antagonize me with your western morality btw.

          • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
            ·
            7 months ago

            it's tautological because that's all there is. There are historical reasons why some animals made better draft animals or whatever than others, but our pets are special to us because we adopt them. You could adopt a cow or a shark too, we just usually don't because of the logistics.

    • QuietCupcake [any, they/them]
      ·
      7 months ago

      The carnist apologia in this thread is something else. The contortions people (sadly, including leftists) will go through just to try to assuage their cognitive dissonance and justify what they must know on some level is naked hypocrisy is truly is wild.

      Hexbear carnists engage in self-crit challenge: impossible.