can veggies own a dog?

Soldato
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I posted a similar thread to this last year when I found out a vegan I know feeds her dog a vegetarian diet. I was disgusted with her.

Fair enough if a person decides to be a veggie - I respect their passion and commitment. I especially respect the veggies who don't try and force their beliefs on others.....why should they.....I'm naturally omnivorous and will eat meat if I want, thanks.

However, I have zero respect for a veggie who insists on owning an animal and then forcing their lifestyle choice on their pet, who doesn't have a say in the matter. Yes, dogs can eat vegetables.....they can probably survive quite adequately on it providing the owner makes sure they get all their essential nutrients. However, let's not kid ourselves, given the choice a dog would pick meat every time. Stick two plates in front of a pooch, one with a veggie meal and one with a lump of meat, and guess which one they'll pick. Now try the same test with 100 dogs. I think we all know what the result would be :rolleyes:
 
Soldato
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phykell said:
Isn't it unbelievably obvious? Why do people even ask this question?

Just because you decide to go vegetarian doesn't mean meat suddenly tastes like ashes. Let me ask you, if you love steak but decide not to eat it, and then someone says have some steak substitute which is almost as good, would you have it or not? Of course you would.

I'm not sure I agree. I would almost say it's a bit hyprocritical to say "I don't want to eat meat", then specifically buy or make something that tastes as close to meat as possible. After all, you only know to make it like that because you've either eaten the meat yourself before or because you know that other people do and want to duplicate them in some way!

In any case, I know plenty of vegetarians who also steer clear of Quorn for this sort of reason.
 
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PinkPig said:
I'm not sure I agree. I would almost say it's a bit hyprocritical to say "I don't want to eat meat", then specifically buy or make something that tastes as close to meat as possible. After all, you only know to make it like that because you've either eaten the meat yourself before or because you know that other people do and want to duplicate them in some way!

In any case, I know plenty of vegetarians who also steer clear of Quorn for this sort of reason.

I do agree with this to some extent but I have to say that there aren't that many alternatives without putting a huge effort into cooking. I buy a lot of quorn/soya products that do look like meat (don't know about taste as I've always been a veggie) but don't buy them for that reason, I buy them because they are very high in protein and are very easy to use. If companies made quorn/soya products in random shapes rather than to look like meat products then I would happily buy them but the simple fact is that they don't.
Products that look like meat sell very well, probably because in my opinion vegetarians still want to fit in with everyone else in some sense. We can eat the same thing as our friends/family or what looks the same and not feel like an alien for eating something sompletely different, plus it's easier for the cook to just substitute a small part of a meal rather than make a completely different one.
 
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Ive been a vegetarian for nearly 12 years through my own choice (thats just about half my life). Not because i dont like animals being called, frankly i couldnt give a monkeys.

I never ate much meat when i was a kid anyway, the rest of my family eat meat as anyone else does. I only ever really ate chicken and the VERY rare (no pun intended) piece of red meat. I just kinda stopped one day and havent eaten meat (or fish) since. (fish because i never liked fish when i was a kid)

Ref the guy who said 'steak wouldnt suddenly start tasting of ashes' well, it would....i would imagine if i were to eat a piece of steak now id be blowing chunks for a good period of time. Aside from the fact i highly doubt id enjoy the taste, i suspect my digestive system simply couldnt handle it anyway after 12 years of eating rabbit food.

So, am i morally wrong for having 2 cats which are fed meat? Seemingly you think i am. Even know i dont object to animals being bred/slaughtered for food.
 
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Soldato
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PinkPig said:
I'm not sure I agree. I would almost say it's a bit hyprocritical to say "I don't want to eat meat", then specifically buy or make something that tastes as close to meat as possible. After all, you only know to make it like that because you've either eaten the meat yourself before or because you know that other people do and want to duplicate them in some way!
Ridiculous, do you think the animals give a fig one way or the other? No, so what's the problem then?

PinkPig said:
In any case, I know plenty of vegetarians who also steer clear of Quorn for this sort of reason.
Is that so? I know plenty too, and none of them "steer clear" of Quorn for such an abjectly stupid reason. I'll tell you what, how about you ask your "plenty of vegetarians" this, that if one decent bacon substitute makes it that bit easier for a meat-eater to go vegetarian, then what's wrong with that?
 
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Soldato
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Curio said:
However, I have zero respect for a veggie who insists on owning an animal and then forcing their lifestyle choice on their pet, who doesn't have a say in the matter. Yes, dogs can eat vegetables.....they can probably survive quite adequately on it providing the owner makes sure they get all their essential nutrients. However, let's not kid ourselves, given the choice a dog would pick meat every time. Stick two plates in front of a pooch, one with a veggie meal and one with a lump of meat, and guess which one they'll pick. Now try the same test with 100 dogs. I think we all know what the result would be :rolleyes:
Zero respect eh? DO you honestly think a vegetarian who's made a lifestyle choice as a result of animal cruelty, would happily subject their own pet to anything less than adequate care? Logically, it just wouldn't add up so perhaps before you condemn such people you should consider that an alternative food for a dog (not for a cat as far as I know), may well be perfectly fine for a dog's nutritional needs or do you know much more on the subject than the people in question and the producers of vegetarian pet food? Maybe you should contact the manufacturers and tell them that you're absolutley positive that their food poses a risk to any pet fed on it. Anyway, it's not like the majority of dogs, cats and other animals are even treated adequately. I bet the people you talk of, on average, treat their animals far, far better than the average person and it's not like the average tin of dog food is going to be any better nutirtionally than the alternatives. Most dog food is rubbish to be honest, but that doesn't stop people feeding their dogs on the worst, cheapest rubbish available.
 

Sic

Sic

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i like this thread...simply because phykell is from exactly the same school of thought as me.

phykell said:
if one decent bacon substitute makes it that bit easier for a meat-eater to go vegetarian, then what's wrong with that?
 
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Sic said:
i like this thread...simply because phykell is from exactly the same school of thought as me.

Ditto, its a comparable to slating nicotine gum. :confused:

My only complain with the meat substitutes is that I have never found one that BBQs well. :)
 
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I have been veggie for the past year and I have owned many animals in the past 18 years.
I believe that as long as animal is taken care of and fed it shouldn't matter what they eat.

Is it right for veggie's to own animals? I can't see what the problem is.
It is nature that animal's eat other animal's and just because someone is veggie doesn't mean to say they are not going to own an animal as they eat meat.

That's like saying will a veggie date a person who eat's meat?
More than likely yes as I am one of them.
You are not going to not own an animal if they eat meat, as it's part of there nature to do so.

Everyone has the choice to eat what they want. I have chosen not to eat meat as I didn't agree with how animal's are killed.
I do not tell people not to eat meat as they ar there own person to make such a decision.
 
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