Finally, re vegan pets. There certainly are many people whose dogs thrive on a vegan diet, and even many whose cats also thrive. Feeding cats a vegan diet is trickier though, and apparently it doesn't always work out. The problem here though is that the very basis of "keeping pets" is messed up. In most cases, "pets" are really "prisoners". Yes, there are definitely many people who love their companion animals and whose companion animals love them back, but how many companion animals are free to come and go as they please? Most people who keep pets are also working people, and, whilst they are at work, their pets are confined and alone, miserable and bored out of their minds. Companion animals don't get to chose where they live and how much freedom they have. They are in most cases "stuck" and anything but free. This is a paradigm that needs to change.
Ok, I have a problem with this statement here. I've heard it before and to put it politely, it's ignorant.
Most dog breeds have been bred by humans to be what they are over hundreds, even thousands of years. Most dog breeds today couldn't survive on their own. For example, I have two pugs. Pugs are a breed that did not and would not exist in the wild. You can argue until you're blue in the face that humans should never have allowed for such a thing, but that is neither here nor there now. The fact is, they would die without humans. Plain and simple. So, my husband and I, knowing this, do what we can to be good stewards to these animals by providing them with a comfortable home, healthy food and good medical care. We also donate to various pug rescues, who take in stray pugs (who are almost invariably found in horrible shape, malnourished and often with a myriad of health problems/diseases/infestations). We keep a close eye on theTwitter feeds of these organizations and donate what extra we can when they've taken in a pug in particularly bad shape.
And that is just one breed. Cruelty is sending these little guys out there without the instincts or physical traits required to survive in a harsh world. As Niel said, nature is a hell of a bitch.
And the truth of the matter is, as David said above, many people come to be more conscientious of animals and their well being by having pets and interacting with them. It helps us to realize that just because they don't look like us, sound like us or behave like us that they aren't living beings, due love and respect.
My aforementioned pugs have literally changed me. I give them, and my human children most of the credit for becoming and wanting to become a better person. They have changed my perspective in ways that I cannot even describe, and have opened my heart in a major way.
I do not think this is by accident or serendipity. I believe it has been designed this way. We are inextricably linked, all of us, to one another, our environment and all living things we share this reality with. And we as the, apparently, most intelligent of these animals have the ability to choose. We can choose to use these connections to better all of us, including the lives of other living things, or we can abuse them. We can learn from each other, and yes, animals do learn from us too. It's a symbiosis of life. Which is the natural order of things.
And along those lines of symbiosis, life is a balance. We, too are animals. It's ignorant to pretend that there aren't certain harsh realities about this world in which we live. We, as is everything else, are part of a food chain. Sometimes we are on top, sometimes we aren't. All living things need to take in energy to survive. We don't, we die. It's as simple as that.
I personally choose to only eat chicken and turkey. Is that because I think chicken and turkeys don't deserve the same respect as cows or pigs? No. Of course not. But chicken and turkey works best for my system. I wish a vegan lifestyle was an option for me, but I have certain dietary issues that would make that an incredibly unhealthy endeavor for me.
I accept that while I have aspirations for a better world, where all forms of life can live without fear or pain, I also accept that that is not reality. I am a part of this natural world. I accept that at times we are the predator, and at others, we are the prey. I do my best to obtain my animal products from sources where the animal is treated with respect until their time comes. And I always say a little prayer of gratitude to the animals that were sacrificed for me and my family. I don't think that takes away the sacrifice, but I can still honor it nonetheless. Until we figure out a way to live in a world devoid of the need for predator and prey, I do my best to make it as peaceful a process as possible.