[dbussone]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

Hmmmn. I have to jump in here for a moment. If you can open your mind and not simply judge superiority by human IQ tests, different species are superior in different ways. However, all mammals are sentient creatures. If you think they don't feel fear or feel pain or feel loss, well, you need to do some research. As far as taking responsibility for your decisions, I knew a man who decided if he was going to eat meat, he needed to know he he could deal with the actual killing of the animal. He went out and shot a deer. He cried. Then he did eat the meat. Not long after, though, he became a full time vegetarian. It would be interesting to see how people would react if they went to a slaughter house and watched or needed to actually kill the animal they were going to eat. We all do what we feel we are morally justified to do. It is just sometimes, our own "appetites" get in the way of honest decision making.

If you were directing the above post to me, I understand. I was addressing the intelligence of a cow. Not the ability of the animal to feel or sense - these are distinct physiological responses. The animals and fish whose flesh I eat are of low intelligence - not like primates, or whales. My undergrad degrees were in physiology and zoology so I have a well developed sense of what I am doing where my food sources are involved.