Cross Night

Meat eaters: Would you be prepared to kill the animals you eat?

I killed and skinned a rabbit last week while on a survival course, I felt quite guilty afterwards and even thought about becoming a vegitarian. So, what do you think? If you're prepared to eat an animal then should you also be prepared to kill it? I think some people are missing the point. I don't mean it in the context of a kill-it-or-die situation, but if say supermarkets stopped selling pre-killed meat and only sold live animals, would you be happy to take it home and kill it or would you become a vegetarian instead?

Public Comments

1. A famous vegetarian pu it like this - "If you can't kill, don't sit back and let others do the deed for them and then reap the rewards." I agree with that. Unfortunately, it was Adolf Hitler. Ironic, really.
2. If i had to i would, but i suppose i never would have to if i didnt eat meat, but i do so yes i would be prepared to kill it.
3. I couldn't do it.
4. id kill an animal, it beats starvin 2 death.
5. I have and I will...
6. No, that's not my job...i'm not a butcher, just a carnivor, meat eater!
7. I could kill it but not do the messy part such as skinning it. On a similar subject who would eat an egg after watching it get laid.
8. no problem, have done it all my life
9. hell yeah...would you rather die?
10. My dad taught me to hunt when I was younger. Do I enjoy it? No. Do I have a better understanding of where that meat under the cellophane in the supermarket comes from than most? I believe so. So, to answer the question: Yes, I could kill an animal to eat it if meat were not available for me to buy. My vegetable consumption would go way up though, and I'm willing to bet my meat consumption would go down.
11. its what we had to do before we got supermarkets and frozen food and we grew our own veg
12. I've done the rabbit bit, I have seen a chicken done, plucking takes so long. How could YOU kill and eat anything the size of a cow? not practical it has to be a butcher for the quantity of meat.
13. You can't kill your own animals (here in the UK) it's illegal and frankly its inhumane. But you still have to take them to a slaughterhouse (much more humane). Being a farm girl i have had to send animals to slaughter all my life and I can't eat Lamb now because i find it hard to send my hand reared lambs. Chickens, pigs and cows i have no problem with, Lambs just get me. My rule is if you can't kill it don't eat it, and i abide by that. But the main point i want to make is Carnivores should not have to justify ourselves in this way. We were born to eat meat, and whether you can kill it or not is beyond the point, These animals are bred for food, and excluding this food group from your diet is unhealthy. you shouldn't have to be able to kill an animal to eat it, just like vegetarians dont have to harvest their own vegetables.
14. yes I could.
15. No problem. I honestly believe that people who are not prepared to kill, skin/pluck, gut and prepare their own food should not be allowed to eat meat. They would be better off as vegetarians and cultivate their pallid complexions and spots.
16. The only reason we don't kill our food is because we don't have to, but if that were to suddenly change, I think you'd see people being happy enough doing it. I would if I had to, if there was no other way of getting my Sunday roast. The majority of people are probably bloodthirsty enough. Us humans enjoy a bit of bloodshed, that's why people rubberneck at traffic accidents.
17. i would not be, thats why i dont eat meat
18. Yes.
19. Yeppers, just need to know how to do it.
20. My partner often kills the meat we eat.He shoots. He fetches home rabbit, pheasant, partridge, pigeon, to name a few. He guts and skins/plucks, as does my seven year old son. My children have no qualms about killing and eating meat, as we have taught them to respect what we are eating, and that its part of life. I think its better to be educated in the food we eat than to pretend that pre wrapped meat in supermarkets were never alive in the first place.If you going to eat it, you should know where it came from and how the animal has been treated.
21. Yup,the actual act of killing the animal would be no problems for me. I think once you did it a few times you would become de-sensitized to it and begin to see it as just another chore to be done. The tricky bit comes with skinning, gutting and jointing the meat as these are skills I dont have. But I would be happy to learn
22. Never found it to be a problem - we reared all our own meat and used to slaughter on the farm until the laws changed back in the seventies after a rather bad outbreak of foot and mouth, and swine vesicular disease. Now all of our large stuff goes to the local abbatoir, but we still do all our own chickens, geese, rabbits and various fish, so we don't get the chance to do the biggies any more.
23. Mozart: that story is like, so, apocryphal. Hitler wasn't even a vegetarian, I'm sure. As for you sonny jim...go be a vegetarian. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you don't follow the party line, you're out etc. etc.
24. Visit the PETA website. Knowledge is power. Make an informed decision. People need to be made aware of the plight of animals and the miserable lives they lead, just to one day land up on our plates or as a "fashion" accessory! If you ARE going to kill it, make it as quick and painless as possible. Vegans Rule!!!!!
25. i am vegetarian because it horrible to kill animals I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
26. Personally, I would not. I am too lazy and I hate mess.... Plus, I'm a total sap when it comes to cute animals... I couldn't kill a bunny......
27. I am prepared to kill my meat. I have been trying to trap the rabbits in my neighborhood for food. I've also been trying to capture and/or kill all the squirrels in a ten block radius from my house. They shouldnt' have messed with my car.
28. I have often prepared Meet dishes by killing the animal or Bird myself. and i did not feel guilty about anything. I have seen Birds that are flesh eaters,and animals that are flesh eaters, and sea creatures that are flesh eaters, even some Plants and flowers are built for consuming flesh. It is a matter of choice and family traditions. There is no need for introducing sentimentality into the practise. Animals are stunned before being butchered . The only time it suffers a little more than a bit is during the Muslim practise of Manually slitting the animals throat and hanging it Upside-down to drain the blood. The Halal practise .Seems Barbaric and needless infliction of suffering. The older religions all did it.It is mostly abandoned by all except one. I am told that the animal feels no pain . May be but who knows when one finds the poor animal try to bleat or fight for life it makes one think.