Would you eat a sentient animal?

koosdel

I only eat things that can be cooked, unless they taste better raw. I try not to discriminate.

asunshinec

I have to force myself not to think about it. I'm a total meat eater, but I'm also an animal lover. I have to separate the two in my own mind. Meat that comes in a package from the store is much easier to eat because I can force myself to believe that it's JUST meat - it didn't have friends or a family. lol I can't bring myself to eat meat that appears as it did in nature - whole fish, for example.

It poses quite an issue for me when I walk into a BBQ restaurant craving a steak, and they seat us right under a giant, stuffed cow head. ?!?! I don't want those crazy eyes watchin' me while I dig in to what could have been his cousin!

It's hard enough eating M&Ms without thinking of their silly faces on the commercials! ;o)

whitejessamine

Yeah, no. Creepy-weird. One of my dad's novels has sentient cows that want to be eaten. I always found the concept very off-putting. I would be thrilled if bacon grew on trees instead of pigs.

tuneses

There was a Chinese restaurant by my old place and it's logo was a wok with animals sticking out with big smiles. I dont remember what the restaurant is called but me and the hubs called it Happy Burning Animals. We still ate there. :P

suzycreamcheese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1nxaQhsaaw

phinners

Yup. I'd cook 'em and eat 'em. No regrets, pass the BBQ sauce

Yup, we he says ^

skinnyminimoni

First off, this is the hardest I've probably ever thought before 7:30 AM.

I would probably still eat them if their purpose in life was to be eaten. They would be fulfilling their duty to the universe, right?

On another note, Hindus would have a ball with sentient cows.

skinnyminimoni

argh, double post sorry >.>

TheGoktor

I don't eat sentient animals, full stop. But if my life depended on it, I would. Fortunately I have the luxury of living in a wealthy country where I have a choice of what to eat!

LorinaLynn

I typically only buy and cook meat that no longer resembles the animal it once was, like boneless skinless chicken breasts, but that's mostly because it seems wasteful to buy the bones and skin and dark meat when I won't be using it.

I thought it would bother me to eat from a whole pig at a luau, but it didn't. I did, however, fashion a blindfold out of a napkin to cover the piggie's eyes because it did bother some of the other party guests. "I can't eat him! He's LOOKING at me!"

Circle of life. Cats feel no guilt over eating mice or birds. Dog have no qualms about rabbits they might catch. Dogs also have no qualms about rolling in dead fish, though, so they might not be the best example on how to live a good life.

DorkothyParker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1nxaQhsaaw

YES! Love that part in "Restaurant at the End of the Universe!"

SueGremlin

All animals are sentient. At the very least, all mammals.

SueGremlin

Okay, I guess that was my opinion? So what animals do you consider "sentient"?

quixoticmantis

Circle of life. Cats feel no guilt over eating mice or birds. Dog have no qualms about rabbits they might catch.

I agree, and I'm a current omnivore that was VEGAN for 4 years. I have no problem eating meat now, after a lot of soul-searching.....I highly respect those that choose not to, however! It's a lovely, respectable lifestyle.

Ocarina

I couldn't do it. I would treat it as a fellow humanoid. World of Warcraft does this somewhat with their toons that you fight or become friends with. You can't "skin" them because they are humanoid but everything else, including spiders, are skinnable. Makes sense!

mikey1976

if i was trapped any where and had to kill an animal i couldn't. i would be utterly useless to any one. plus i get attached way to easy with them so i wont be a able to. so like others i buy my meat already done up for me to cook other wise i'd be a veg eater

DorkothyParker

Okay, I guess that was my opinion? So what animals do you consider "sentient"?

I consider sentience as knowledge of the self. The fact that my cat doesn't even realize the tail she's chasing is her own, means she's probably not sentient.
But there are other definitions especially regarding how it relates to philosophy. Again, I generally go in for "self-awareness" as the deciding factor.

For the sake of this post, we are dealing with self-aware animals with the desire to be eaten. They may or may not be cannibalistic as well, that's entirely up to you. ^^

TropicalKitty

Okay, I guess that was my opinion? So what animals do you consider "sentient"?

I consider sentience as knowledge of the self. The fact that my cat doesn't even realize the tail she's chasing is her own, means she's probably not sentient.
But there are other definitions especially regarding how it relates to philosophy. Again, I generally go in for "self-awareness" as the deciding factor.

For the sake of this post, we are dealing with self-aware animals with the desire to be eaten. They may or may not be cannibalistic as well, that's entirely up to you. ^^

How do you know she doesn't know it's her tail? That's a pretty big assumption there and not a fact. I think my cats understand a lot. They know their names and protect eachother - example, we have a ferral momma cat who has been hanging on our back deck. She's tried to attack our cats through the back window. When she does one of our kitties rushes over in defense of the sibling being swatted at.

I really think animals know more than we give them credit for, as we're just too egotistical to want to let some other organism be like us.

And who would want to be eaten in reality. There's a natural effort for self preservation, but that doesn't change how the animal kingdom works. So adding the caveat of wanting to be eaten is pretty pointless.

MDLNH

Yup. I'd cook 'em and eat 'em. No regrets, pass the BBQ sauce

*Agreed . . . might even come back for seconds !!!

Babushka_Dolly

I'm already a veggie... so defiantly not! x