BY SOFO ARCHON
If you love animals, why do you kill them?
That’s a question most people never stop to ask themselves.
Even if you don’t kill animals yourself, the reality is that eating them still makes you complicit in their deaths. In other words, whether you kill them with your own hands or have someone else do it, the outcome is essentially the same.
I used to be like that too. I ate animals almost every day, but at some point in my life, things changed. That was when I encountered overwhelming scientific evidence showing that humans can thrive on a plant-based diet. It left me with one simple but unavoidable question: If I don’t need to eat animals, why was I continuing to do so, unnecessarily causing them suffering and death?
Soon, I decided to adopt a vegetarian diet. I gave up meat and fish, but still ate dairy, eggs, and honey regularly. I was seventeen at the time, and the reaction from my friends and family was far from encouraging. They genuinely thought I was being foolish and that my health would suffer if I didn’t start eating animals again.
“Where are you going to get your protein from? Certainly not from plants!”
“How about omega-3s? Fish is essential for a healthy diet!”
These and other objections were raised to convince me to return to eating meat. But I didn’t care. I felt healthy and knew in my heart that I was doing the right thing. Little did I know that vegetarianism actually does not do enough to help animals.
Fast forward nine years. While researching factory farming, I came across some videos showing the horrors that occur in the dairy and egg industries. What I saw left me speechless. To my surprise, I discovered that these industries are even worse than the meat industry. Not only do they eventually send animals to the slaughterhouse, but they also exploit and abuse them throughout their lives.
After this terrifying realization, it didn’t take me long to eliminate all animal products from my life—not just from my diet. I decided never to consume or use any animal product again—meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, honey, wool, leather, fur, and so on. (In case you’re wondering, the honey, wool, leather, and fur industries are extremely cruel too). In other words, I became vegan.
As I had expected, almost everyone who knew me thought I’d gone completely nuts. “OK, you stopped eating meat and fish years ago, which is already weird, but now you’ve given up dairy and eggs too? How are you going to survive? You must be crazy!” From my perspective, though, the entire world seemed insane.
Consider that humans kill over fifty billion land animals and around a trillion aquatic animals each year—and it’s hard not to see that as madness. Yet in this world, if you dare to keep even a shred of sanity, nearly everyone will label you “crazy” and make it their life mission to drag you back to what they call sanity.
This is what I’ve experienced since I went vegan. Whenever I share my dietary choices, most people try to convince me to give them up, bringing up all sorts of arguments against veganism. To this day, however, I’ve never heard a single sound anti-vegan argument come from anyone’s mouth.
Most people cling so strongly to their habits, traditions, convenience, and pleasures that they will make up any excuse—no matter how illogical or downright stupid—to justify eating animals and their byproducts. To illustrate this, here are the most common arguments people use to attack veganism—along with my responses to each.
1. Eating animals is instinctual.
Firstly, doing something just because it seems instinctual doesn’t automatically make it right. Murder, rape, and physical violence could also be considered instinctual—but does that make it acceptable to abuse, sexually exploit, or kill people?
Secondly, if eating meat were “instinctual,” why do we prefer to buy it packaged, trimmed, prepared, seasoned, and flavored?
Lastly, why don’t we feel an instinctual desire to hunt, kill, and eat animals with nothing but our bare hands and teeth, as an obligate carnivore would?
2. We have canine teeth to eat meat.
If you compare our teeth to those of a shark, tiger, or even a dog, you’ll quickly notice they are quite different. In fact, our jaws, skeleton, muscles, and digestive system are much more similar to those of herbivores.
That said, even if we had large canine teeth, it wouldn’t necessarily mean our bodies are built to eat meat. For example, hippos are herbivores (although in rare cases they might eat meat), yet they have some of the largest teeth in the animal kingdom.
Furthermore, as I’ve already mentioned in my previous point, do you really think you could use your teeth alone to kill a living animal, open it up, and eat it raw?
3. Eating meat helped us develop large brains.
If that were true, then ask yourself, “Are obligate carnivores the most intelligent animals on the planet?”
I’m not sure—but for the sake of argument, let’s assume we did evolve to our current state because of eating meat. Does that mean we should continue eating it?
From a scientific or health perspective, certainly not, since research consistently shows that eating meat is immensely detrimental to our health. So why not use our large brains to do what’s actually good for us?
4. We’ve always been eating animals.
The fact that we’ve been doing something cruel for a long time doesn’t mean we should continue doing it. For example, people have been killing each other for millennia. Does that make it acceptable to keep murdering one another?
Of course not.
In the same way, we don’t need to keep killing animals—especially when there is solid evidence showing that we can live healthily on a plant-based diet. (Just check any leading scientific journal on the topic, and you’ll see what I mean.)
5. Animals eat other animals.
This argument is often raised against veganism, but like all the others we’ve examined, it doesn’t make much sense.
Firstly, not all animals eat meat; many are herbivores, meaning that they feed entirely on plants.
Secondly, humans are not obligate carnivores, meaning that we don’t have to eat meat. So comparing ourselves to animals that must eat meat to survive is unreasonable.
Lastly, just because other animals do something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for us to do it too. Animals kill one another, sniff each other’s behinds when they meet, and regularly lick their own anuses. Yet I’ve never heard anyone suggest that we should adopt those behaviors as well! So why selectively imitate one behavior—that is, eating meat—while rejecting the rest?
6. Vegans aren’t healthy.
A common misconception is that vegans can’t get all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. However, study after study has shown this to be a myth. In fact, research indicates that vegans tend to be healthier than non-vegans.
A few studies do suggest the opposite—but nearly all were funded by the meat, dairy, and egg industries. Most of these studies were deliberately poorly designed, with the sole purpose of manipulating results and misleading the public.
7. Vegans kill plants.
Does anyone really believe that cutting up an apple is the same as cutting up a pig?
Apparently, some people do, since this argument is often raised against veganism (and in defense of eating meat). Or perhaps it’s simply an excuse—a way to give themselves a guilt-free pass to keep eating animals.
To those people, I say this: by eating animals, we actually harm many times more plants than by eating plants directly—depending on the animal, it takes between 3 and 20 pounds of plant protein to produce just one pound of animal protein.
So not only do vegans avoid killing animals, but they also end up killing far fewer plants than meat eaters. Therefore, if you truly want to reduce plant deaths, eliminate animal products from your diet and eat plants directly!
8. Killing animals humanely is OK.
Killing an animal that doesn’t want to die doesn’t sound humane at all. And since we don’t need to eat meat to survive and be healthy, I’d say it’s rather cruel.
Yet some people insist that if an animal had a good life before its slaughter and its death was carried out quickly and painlessly, then there’s nothing wrong with killing it. This argument, however, is as nonsensical as saying that there’s nothing wrong with raping a human being so long as you treat them well beforehand and commit the act as quickly and painlessly as possible.
9. Eating dairy or eggs doesn’t harm animals.
That’s precisely what I used to believe during my nine years as a vegetarian. But I was entirely wrong. When I finally learned the truth, I was utterly shocked, and I said a big NO to consuming dairy and eggs.
Let’s take a brief look at the cruelty in the dairy and egg industries, starting with dairy. But before we dive in, consider this: Why do cows produce milk?
Many people believe that cows produce milk nonstop and in great abundance, so there is nothing wrong with drinking it. The reality, however, is that cows produce milk only around the time they give birth. Why? To feed their babies—just as your mother produced warm, nutritious milk for you when you were born. And I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have liked the idea of someone stealing it away from you.
Now that we’ve clarified this, let’s take a look at what really happens in the dairy industry so you can savor the dairy products you bought at the store.
To produce dairy, female cows are routinely forcibly impregnated. When they give birth, their babies are taken from them almost immediately. Soon afterward, most male calves are sold to the veal industry, while female calves are condemned to the same fate as their mothers: repeated cycles of forced impregnation and milk production until their bodies give out—at which point they are slaughtered.
Sounds harmless, doesn’t it?
Now, how about the egg industry? Does it treat animals any better?
Not at all. Right after hatching, nearly all male chicks are either ground alive or gassed to death. Why? Because the egg industry considers them “worthless” and “unprofitable,” since they can’t lay eggs.
Female chicks have it even worse. Once they grow up, their eggs are constantly taken from them, which causes them to keep producing more without end. You see, in nature, hens lay eggs only until their nest is full. But when their eggs are removed, this natural cycle is disrupted, compelling hens to lay more to replace them.
This process is exhausting and extremely damaging to their health. Did you know, for example, that every egg requires a tremendous amount of calcium from a hen’s body? In factory-farming conditions, some hens even die from the relentless strain placed on their reproductive systems.
After being exploited for a couple of years, their egg production starts to decline. So what happens to them next? You guessed it: their throats are slit. (Note that under natural conditions, chickens can live for around eight years.)
So much for the “harmless” egg industry.
10. If we didn’t breed animals, they wouldn’t have a life.
This might be the worst anti-vegan argument I’ve heard so far.
Does bringing an animal into existence justify exploiting, abusing, and killing it? That’s like saying it would be acceptable for a sadistic pedophile to rape and murder children as long as he brought them into the world.
I won’t even include a meme here—that’s how terrible this argument is.
11. If we didn’t eat animals, they would overpopulate the planet and starve to death.
This argument can be rephrased as follows:
“If we didn’t slaughter animals for food, they would suffer and die.”
Imagine saying that in a human context—it doesn’t make any sense, right?
Regardless, the answer is simple: the world’s population won’t turn vegan overnight. Instead, the shift toward a plant-based diet will happen gradually, over decades or even centuries. As demand for animal products decreases, fewer animals will be bred into existence. Eventually, people will stop breeding them altogether, allowing animal populations to return to sustainable levels naturally.
12. Meat is tasty.
Meat might indeed be tasty, but is the brief pleasure you derive from eating animal flesh more important than the life of that animal?
Furthermore, do you really think taste justifies the unnecessary exploitation, torture, and killing of animals? If you think so, consider this: If someone claimed that human flesh was delicious, would you be okay with them killing and eating you?
I think we both know the answer.
13. Vegan food is expensive.
Well, that depends on the kinds of vegan foods you choose to eat.
If you regularly consume processed vegan products, they can certainly be expensive. However, if your diet mainly consists of grains, legumes, and seasonal, locally grown fruits and vegetables, a plant-based diet isn’t necessarily more expensive than a diet that includes animal products—in fact, it’s often cheaper.
14. You can’t be a perfect vegan.
This is true. No matter how compassionately you try to live, you’re still bound to unintentionally cause some suffering to animals. For example, simply walking down the street might mean accidentally stepping on an insect.
Additionally, we live in a non-vegan society, and most of us can’t completely avoid using products that either contain animal-derived ingredients or involve animal exploitation in their production.
But does that mean we shouldn’t do anything about the tremendous animal cruelty that exists across the globe? Or, even worse, does it mean there’s nothing wrong with intentionally causing unnecessary suffering to animals? That would be like saying that because violence can never be eliminated from the world, we shouldn’t care about the violence that exists—or that it’s acceptable for people to harm one another.
Veganism, by definition, isn’t about eliminating all suffering—it’s about reducing it as much as practically possible. You might not be perfect (who is, anyway?), but through our daily actions, we can help make the planet a less cruel place.
15. It’s my personal choice.
Your choice to eat animal products affects the lives of other sentient beings, so it’s not just a personal matter.
For that reason, I object to contributing to the unnecessary suffering of animals simply because someone wants to eat them or their byproducts—just as you would object if someone punched you in the face simply because they felt like it.
16. One person can’t make a difference.
I know I said I’d cover 15 anti-vegan arguments, but I couldn’t leave this one out!
The average meat-eater in the Western world is responsible for the deaths of several thousand animals over a lifetime. Considering this, someone who stops consuming animal products can truly make a difference—for the animals.
Moreover, by avoiding animal products, you not only stop supporting the animal industry but also inspire those around you to do the same. Indeed, thanks to individuals like you and me, veganism has become one of the fastest-growing global movements, making an impact that was once unimaginable.
You have the power to make a positive difference in the world—starting today. The only question is, will you choose to?
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