I am not vegetarian. I probably would go veg, but at my age it is hard because my family already has to make sacrifices because of my allergies, and I'm sure they wouldn't be happy about having to make even more of an effort to cater for me.
However, I always try to eat 'cruelty-free' meat. I make sure to buy Lilydale chicken- the free range stuff. But is it really better for the chickens?
And what about red meat- I can never find a single brand that sells meat from animals, from farms that take good care of the animals and make them happy. Is there such a thing? And maybe, should we be campaining for it?
Unfortunately there isn't any real cruelty free meat. Anything that involves killing a sentient being to eat is the opposite of cruelty free and although these animals that are labeled as cruelty free may have it a bit better than others, they are still usually kept in really bad conditions and are still murdered in the end. I can understand if your family wont allow it and the best thing I can recommend is when you have the choice (like when you are out to eat or with friends or at the shops ) choose meat free food. Avoid it as much as you can. If you are really serious about it you could do a lot of research on the pro's of a vegetarian diet and offer to cook your own meals. You could still eat the same meals and just substitute the meat for something else in yours.
At the moment there are still no accurate and real "label laws" in Australia, meaning any one can basically label their meat, eggs whatever as being free-range. This does not at all mean that the animal has led a good life out in a field until it's killed. Either way, there is no humane way of killing and there is nothing cruelty-free about eating meat no matter where it comes from. I am sure that there are some factory farms that are "better" than others but there's no way for you to really know that and unfortunately no farms that kill their animals are cruelty-free no matter how much "better" they are or how much more you pay for organic, free range meat.
However if you absolutely refuse to give up meat, I will say that it's still probably better to buy the organic, free-range labelled stuff because at least that way you're saying as a consumer, "I care what I buy and I'm willing to fork over a little more cash to get something of better quality" not that that in anyway means that it's cruelty-free or better for the cow, chicken whatever.
I suggest you start making some of your own meals and you can always cut back on your meat and dairy intake slowly so it's not some big overwhelming change for you or your family. But if you want cruelty-free meals I'm afraid the only way to do it is to make sure you're not putting animal on your plate.
Wow that is a really deep question! I have discovered that there is certainly NO such thing as cruelty free meat! Even if the animal enjoyed the best life possible with massages and music every day, they are still killed in the same slaughter house as all "factory farmed" meat. And even if they were gently "put to sleep" (which they are NOT) they are still killed, just for us to eat them. This website has great info: http://www.humanemyth.org/
The cruelty free way to live is to go vegan. Get your family to watch Earthlings (available free online) and they will want to go vegan with you! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142
No. Even if an animal is raised on a farm where they live in relative comfort (very very rare) they still end up in the same slaughterhouse where they face a horrific end to their lives. Slaughterhouses are a business. Making money always comes before animal welfare. You may hear people say that animals are killed humanely in Australia, that the stuff you see in documentaries like earthling 'doesn't happen here'. But remember, there have recently been abbatoirs in australia shut down because animal cruelty was exposed. I highly recommend reading the book 'slaughterhouse'. It gives you a real insight into the minds of the people working the kill floor. How they become able to beat an animal to death and even enjoy it because that is what their job makes of them. It is a book about the american system but the mindset is universal. There is no such thing as humane or cruelty free meat. There just isn't.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. For me, is going to be a big thing to change my meat-eating ways, and it may take awhile before I will be completely vegan. In the meantime, I will do everything I can to stop other forms of animal cruelty, and follow everything you guys have said.
I will watch Earthlings! It sounds like something I really need to see.
If you could take a gun, put it to an animal's head, pull the trigger... remove the skin/feathers/internal organs... bleed it... then cook it up and eat it, good luck to you.
If you couldn't do that, but you're happy to pay for someone else to do it for you so you can pretend it's not happening, then I'd say you're ignoring your own moral standards.
