Quote:
Originally Posted by Wabi-sabi  May seem like a silly question but I have always wondered.
If you are a vegetarian because you do not believe it is right to kill an animal, is it okay to eat meat if the animal died of natural causes? Say a cow froze to death and is disease free. Can you eat it? |
HI wabi
As in roadkill? Well the problem is for ethical vegans, that consuming even roadkill, means that you consider animals are less worthy of rights than humans.
Now this may seem strange to people but many vegans like the Philosphers Peter Singer and Tom Regan, the other species as far as possible should be treated when possible with the courtesy and respect that we afford humans. Therefore if we wouldnt eat a human that has been knocked down, then we shouldnt eat animals that are roadkilled.
When we allow varying degrees of 'Animal Farm Politics' to enter our ethics then we will find ourselves on a slippery slope. In fact the other end of the slope is the excuse.."Well this animal was already killed and wrapped for the supermarket, so it doesnt make any difference whether I eat it or not, its already dead."
The fact is that 99.99% of Vegans who have been meat free for any length of time would probably be violently sick if dead animal flesh went anywhere near them. The very though of it turns my stomach.
Good question though!
