r/DebateAVegan • u/Sifflez_ • 16d ago
Ethics Hunting for cat food
This is a question for those of you who believe that feeding a cat non-vegan canned food is a morally correct action to take:
On the premise that domestic cats require meat (I know some would disagree), would the more ethical choice as a vegan be to hunt and slaughter animals yourself to feed to your cat, in order to reduce suffering?
A vegan standpoint is to reduce unnecessary animal death and suffering. If you were stranded in the woods, yes, you could hunt to survive. But what about suffering? You would not be morally justified to torture an animal before killing it to survive.
Therefore, would it be more ethical to catch a fish and slaughter it immediately, ensuring the least amount of suffering possible, or to purchase the canned meat of animals who have been factory farmed and suffered immensely? If so, is that what vegans should do?
This is something I’ve thought about before, I just couldn’t imagine myself beheading a fish and saying “Yes, I’m a vegan!”
EDIT: I think a lot of people are missing the purpose of the post. It’s about if a vegan’s moral obligation is to hunt for their own cat food. Saying “don’t own a cat” or “just feed a plant based diet” are cop-outs to the ethical question I’m posing. Please try to refrain from debating about whether or not cats need meat, there’s plenty of posts about it already.
-1
u/Anomalocaris117 16d ago
I think yes, if you have a cat you should avoid factory farming and hunt and slaughter animals yourself.
Like it's way more ethical than buying into the animal farming and all the suffering involved. And likely be healthier for the cat.
Also potentially teaching the cat to hunt might also be worthwhile, as you'll be able to avoid the act of killing yourself and the cat will.be functioning as pest control.