To be honest I tend to agree with the sentiment. I've never liked the "I'm doing it for the animals" explanation. Without beef the cow would be extinct. It really doesn't have what it takes to survive in the wild after so long domesticated.
No matter what way you choose to feed yourself, commute to work, or build shelter for yourself, a lot of animals (and a few humans) are going to get killed in the process. For example, it's been argued that more rodents die from agricultural harvesting than there are livestock killed in slaughterhouses. There is really no such thing as "sustainable development" or magical "green" technology- those are only relative terms. All we can do is minimize.
As it is now, the worst abuses have been outlawed, but the law is inconsistently applied. In America, for example, the Animal Welfare Act only protects research subjects. As happens in most other cases, industry is placed before science, and what goes in the farms is loosely regulated. Note that many European countries have taken solid steps toward making the situation better; in the US, the situation hasn't changed much. "We", after all, are the only developed country that happily ingests recombinant bovine growth hormone along with our burgers.
It is possible to raise livestock humanely and sustainably (again, relatively speaking). It's the deliberate ignorance of the many that allows what abuses still take place to go unnoticed.
As some have mentioned before in this thread, I could deluge you with disturbing tales of the psychology used to induce rape behavior in cattle, or give you an idea of what it's like to be contained in a five by ten foot box your entire life. But if you want to know, you can easily find out yourself. There are plenty of legitimate sources available, even the
American FDA.
Again, the worst offenses have been effectively outlawed in the developed world. But many people deliberately remain ignorant about the work that still needs to be done.
