I’ve been thinking about vegetarians lately. I have nothing against this lifestyle choice, and was, myself, a vegetarian for thirteen years. There are a number of reasons for becoming a vegetarian, and just for the sake of argument, I am narrowing them down to four for the purposes of this blog post.
- People who do it for health reasons. (Type 1)
- People who do it for ethical reasons. (Type 2)
- People who do it for spiritual reasons. (Type 3)
- People who do it for ecological reasons. (Type 4)
I was a type 2 vegetarian: One of those people who believe that animals are sentient and developed beings with rich emotional lives. I still believe that, and spend a great deal of my waking hours as an animal advocate, trying to affect positive change for animals. The fact that I eat meat, makes me a hypocrite, and I admit it.
But while I’m confessing my hypocrisy, I’d like you type 2 vegetarians to consider whether or not you have an hypocrisy of your own to confess as well. I’m talking to the vegetarian folks with dogs, who also force their dogs to eat a vegetarian diet. The Type 2d folks.
If you are a type 2d vegetarian: eating no meat because you love animals and find it unethical, then I ask you to objectively consider your dog. You profess to love animals, but you are imposing your will on your pet because of your own moral compunction. I think it is safe to say that your dog does not share your ethical dilemma.
If you were to set your dog loose today in the wild, I can assure you that when it got hungry, your dog would not be nibbling grass and looking for nuts and berries to eat. Your dog would pounce on the first living creature it felt it could kill. And that would be perfectly natural, because it’s natural for dogs to eat meat. So natural, in fact, that there’s become a huge movement in the dog world to feed raw, thereby providing the most natural diet available to a dog. (I’m not going to turn this into a blog post about the pros and cons of feeding raw. There’s plenty of information about that elsewhere on the Internet.)
I am just asking you to think logically about whether or not you are being fair to your dog, and loving him or her in the best possible way.
Up on the Woof 
You hit a nerve with this one. How dare you? I was a vegetarian for years and years, along with two of my daughters. Living in a rural town, we were often questioned and joked about for ‘not eating meat’. I swear to you, though most of everything I say is a big fat lie, that I was kicked out of the ‘Bow Hunter’s for Jesus Church’ for not eating meat. Then I began attending Animal Rights Conferences and found out I was a disgrace because I was vegetarian, not vegan. It was Junior High School all over again, I didn’t fit in anywhere. Then there is the matter, which you point out here, of my dogs. Many of my friends condemn me for not cooking my dogs meals, others berate me for not feeding them a raw food diet, and then my vegan (yes, I have finally crossed over to veganism) friends are appalled that my dogs aren’t fed a vegan diet. The truth is; I’m lazy. I feed my dogs processed dog food mixed with canned food. I’m not proud of this. I wish I were better. I know I should do better, but the truth is I have spent a major part of my life as a rescuer of backyard dogs. The dogs living with me have all been rescued from lives of 24/7 chaining. Therefore, I feel feeding my dogs on a regular schedule is a huge change from how they lived before. Backyard dogs are forgotten. It’s easy to overlook when they were last fed and easier to ignore they need feeding at all. So, maybe I’m not the best pet parent, nor the best vegan, but I know when my dogs are hungry or thirsty because they are right beside me to tell me when they need something. No matter what I’m doing wrong in other people’s eyes, I’m doing right when it comes to my dogs, and really, no one else’s opinions matter more to me than theirs.
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Lazy or not, dog lady, you are doing the right thing by your dogs. Don’t let other Vegans guilt you into thinking you’re not. An animal lover has to have the animal’s best interest at heart, no matter what! Even if it’s in contrast to your personal ideals. You are the BEST kind of dog parent.
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Why did you start eating meat again?
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Complete selfishness. I just got bored with the bill o’fare.
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I realize that this is an old post, but I just discovered your blog yesterday, (whoo hoo!)
I am a type 2 vegetarian who holds guilt that I am not vegan.
I *tried* to impose my views on my poor dog. I was cooking her meals, and felt terrible guilt for buying so much meat. I did not want to support the meat industry and felt that if *maybe* there was less demand, eventually, perhaps *some day*, there would be no more factory farms. (hey, a girl can dream). I have to say, that lasted for maybe 2 weeks. I felt so bad. My poor, beloved love of my life went from enthusiastically scarffing down her meals, to simply eating. No joy, no zest, just eat for survival purposes. Now I know we should not view food as “entertainment”, and that it IS indeed for intended to nourish our bodies. (supposed to be anyway, I still can’t view it that way. Eating is FUN dangit.) It didn’t take long for me to bring the joy back to my girl’s diet. I lessened the guilt on my behalf and found a company who made raw meat/veggie dog food with free range, organic meat. Yes, I paid more for her food than it took to pay for my entire grocery bill for the month, but it felt good doing that for her. She even gets her Sunday marrow bones that completely gross me out.
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Welcome to Up on the Woof! Thanks for commenting…glad to hear that you came to understand that by feeding your dog what’s natural for her, doesn’t have to effect your own moral code. BTW, I haven’t eaten veal for 40 years, because I have the same dream…that “someday”, if there’s no demand for veal, farmers will stop torturing calves.
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In July 2012, I went back to vegetarianism. I’m not a vegan yet, but that may come.
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I try to be aware of the suffering caused by the meat/animal exploitation industry and I try not to be a participant. I “try to think occasionally of the suffering of which I spare myself the sight” and I hope others do too. I try to be better and hope and encourage others to do so. We’re all on our own path but we’re not alone.
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