How many cat-lovers are also vegetarians or animal rights supporters?

[salsero71]

Hi all,

I'm curious to know if many of TCS members who obviously love their cats, are prompted by their love of animals to take action to help general animal welfare?

I'm not trying to promote anything...but just wonder if many cat mommies and daddies are also vegetarians or vegans or are signed up to animal welfare forums etc. I'm also curious to get your views on animal rights and vegetarianism.

 

[icklemiss21]

Animal welfare or animal rights? You will find a huge difference between the two, especially with people on this board.

 

[c1atsite]

I don't know enough about those factions to say with conviction "Oh, I'm xyz" but I eat mainly vegetarian food. I like the way it tastes and I always think "I'm doing my body a favor"

 

[horseygal90]

Very much a meat eater here! Couldn't live without meat.

Animal welfare is an important issue to me; but extreme animal rights people scare me :/ (By that I mean the people who want all animals released into the wild including house pets and those who don't agree with riding horses!P)

 

[david's steph]

*raises hand affirmatively to both questions*

Intersestingly enough, it was the profound love I had for a domestic animal (my r/b dog Ginger

) that opened a whole new world of love for other animals, and opened my eyes to vegetarian/vegan way of life and animal rights issues... so yes, and yes

However, this is not the forum for me to discuss/defend /learn about the above, I am here strictly for kittehs and more kittehs

I am a member of the below forums to satiate my thirst for vegetarian/vegan/animal rights issues and ideas..

veggieboards.com

veganforum.com

 

[darkmavis]

I'm a vegetarian, for a combination of ethical, environmental, and health reasons...

That said, I still can easily eat badly, like pizza, fried stuff, candy, all sorts of cheezy stuff... if i could give up cheese i could easily be vegan. But alas, it is not meant to be.

 

[ut0pia]

As for me, the problem with meat is the way the industry in the US has found ways to abuse animals in the process.
I think it can be done the right way, but too many interests of big businesses who are not only CEOs of companies but also board directors of government agencies are in the way.
For the most part, I eat vegetarian, for health reasons and because when I cook meat I can't do so without getting disgusted by it in the process and losing all apetite- raw meat just smells horrible

. if I eat meat, I avoid buying from companies like Tyson, pretty much the mainstream meats they sell and try to get organic that guarantees the animals are raised in a cruelty free way...
Now, I don't do this 100% of the time, but I feel like if others make the same choices, even if not all the time, these companies would get less business and would change their practices...

 

[adriana]

Vegetarian here!

 

[kai bengals]

Love cats, love all animals, I absolutely do not support animal rights movements.
Animal welfare.......100% yes.

Animals need to be protected by us, the beings, at the top of the food chain. However animals don't have rights, as they don't have the ability to employ, express and defend rights.

We as the supreme beings on this planet need to protect and nurture the animals in our care. The animals we use for food, need to be raised and housed well in a non-abusive manner and their lives need to be ended in a dignified and humane manner.

 

[missymotus]

I'm a vegetarian (and my cats are raw fed)
Yes to animal welfare, no for animal rights groups

 

[ldg]

Well, we're not vegetarian, but we do buy organic food when we can afford it, we avoid processed food for the most part, we buy free-range eggs, cage free chicen... we live in a rural farm area, so we buy local free-grazing beef and locally made cheeses. Gary and I were vegetarians for a long time, but I have roughly the same problem with mass chemical and genetically engineered farming whether animal or vegetabe. I also found the hypocrisy of wearing leather belts and shoes a problem, yet didn't want to specifically support synthetics because of the oil component required, and the cotton is generally a problem because so much of it is produced in countries where there a child labor or they're destroying the environment to produce it. It's much harder to be animal/environmentally conscios than it may seem. We do use rechargeable batteries recycle, purchase recycled products when possible, and use environmentally friendly chemicals to clean and wash our clothes.

As to animal welfare vs animal rights, I am politically active when it comes to animal welfare. We actively rescue cats, TNR, manage a colony, help others do so, find resources for people, and started a no-kill shelter. I use science, not emotion to battle against 'environmental conservationusts' who want to ban the feral cat from existence, am actively researching and pubshing on issues of cat predation to counter the absurd 'science' of bird activists... see www.straypetadvocacy.org. We are in the process of cnstructing at least two more websites to focus on the science, not the emotion, of the issues of TNR.

 

[mystik spiral]

I'm vegetarian!

It is my goal to go vegan one day, but cheese and ice cream are my downfall... I have simply read too much about factory farms to be comfortable eating meat. Even when I was a kid, I couldn't stand handling raw meat and couldn't eat any meat that wasn't TOTALLY well done. I've been vegetarian for most of the last 12 years, but there were a couple times I had to live with family members for a while... we compromised and I would eat chicken and fish rather than cook a complete separate dinner (my family doesn't eat a lot of red meat anyway), and it just gave me a bad feeling when I did.

I don't participate in any animal welfare activism, though I always mean to start (I'm a procrastinator...). I do subscribe to VegNews magazine though - it's terrific!

 

[yayi]

Still in the process of turning vegetarian! And am an avid animal welfare/rights supporter

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by LDG

but I have roughly the same problem with mass chemical and genetically engineered farming whether animal or vegetabe. I also found the hypocrisy of wearing leather belts and shoes a problem, yet didn't want to specifically support synthetics because of the oil component required, and the cotton is generally a problem because so much of it is produced in countries where there a child labor or they're destroying the environment to produce it. It's much harder to be animal/environmentally conscios than it may seem.

That's the ironic thing about it, isn't it? All your synthetic materials take their toll, petroleum products are used on crops, and pretty much everything now days is made in China (or India).

We get local meat when we can but there's not really "organic" options in such a rural area. Eggs come from a local that sells some eggs - but around August we won't be buying many, if any eggs. In season we get as many veggies as we can from family, friends, local farmers, and grow what we can - as it's cheaper and pretty much the only chemical free option.

By no means a vegetarian here, though we don't have meat with every meal (cost too much) either.

I'm for animal welfare and not animal activism.

Activists of all kinds are usually on the extreme end within their ideologies and at that point their intentions are rarely to help find solutions, but instead to further their ideologies.

 

[addiebee]

Omnivore here!

Animal welfare - 1,000%
Animal rights? Different ball game.

I volunteer with rescue and have been working politically to change policy at a local high-kill county shelter.

 

[ldg]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I'm for animal welfare and not animal activism.

Activists of all kinds are usually on the extreme end within their ideologies and at that point their intentions are rarely to help find solutions, but instead to further their ideologies.

Another "that is so true" !!!

 

[dusty's mom]

I am curious about whether vegetarians eat Jell-O or gummy bears or similar candies, and wear leather belts and shoes???

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question5571.htm

Gelatin is a common ingredient in foods because it is so versatile. It can be used as a gelling agent (as in Jell-O), as a thickener, an emulsifier, and a stabilizer. You'll find it in a variety of foods, from yogurt to chewing gum. Here is a list of some other foods that commonly contain gelatin:

* gummy bears
* sour cream
* cream cheese
* cake icing and frosting
* marshmallows
* soups, sauces and gravies
* canned ham and chicken
* corned beef
* sausage

Gelatin is even used to make the coating for pills that makes them easier to swallow. It's also in cosmetics, lozenges, and ointments.

 

[darkmavis]

Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom

I am curious about whether vegetarians eat Jell-O or gummy bears or similar candies, and wear leather belts and shoes???

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question5571.htm

No, I don't do leather. Why bother not eating dead animals if you'f still wear them?? Except for the pink Dr. Martens I bought in 1996 before I was veggie. I'll wear those since I still have them, but I wouldn't buy another pair. I sadly don't eat gummy bears and everytime I want to buy a chewy candy I read the label. Swedish Fish are gelatin-free!!

I also read labels for pills, and pretty much any food I buy that has and ingredient label. I do try to be conscious about animal products.

That said, I do eat at restaurants, and I know in the back of my mind that my spinach omlette is probably being cooked where they just cooked someone else's bacon.

But I try not to think about that; I can't live in a bubble....

 

[rahma]

I'm an ethical omnivore who's mostly vegetarian, because ethically raised meat is just too darn expensive

I don't credit it to my cat obsession, but rather to a realization that the modern factory farm system is unsustainable and cruel.

I do own leather shoes, but ones that come from an animal that was treated humanely.

Basically, I think human beings in general were meant to eat meat, and should do so, but in the way that it was meant to be - in small quantities, and without maltreatment of animals.

 

[fifi1puss]

I am not a vegetarian. I believe it is ok to eat other animals. I do not like "big farm" agriculture. I try to get my meat locally from small farms in the area that are treated humanely in all stages of their lives. Ditto for any dairy I may consume.

I have very far to go in the changes I wish to make to stay in line with what I believe.......but I won't give up.