Isnt it hypocritical for vegans to own cats or dogs?

Anonymous

You're understandably muddled. A vegan is a person who,for whatever reason (often a combination of reasons) has decided to consume no animal products of any kind. In many cases their main reason involves a belief that it is morally wrong to "use animals" but there are other reasons too. There is nothing about the notion of being "vegan" that suggests trying to force their dietry choices onto other people or other animals. To answer your main question, no - there is nothing hypocritical in a vegan keeping a cat or dog. It would be ridiculous for a vegan to disapprove of a cat or dogs dietry requirements. I know of no one who is not "against" a "cruel" meat trade or general "cruelty to animals". Many, many people have taken action that has resulted in the present laws, rules and regulations relating to animal welfare - in my country, fox hunting, hare coursing, badget and bear bating and the shooting of wild birds are all banned. Only a very tiny percentage of the people responsible for such progress is vegan. A person who keeps a carnivorous pet and attempts to make it follow a herbivorous diet and simply guilty of animal cruelty. I guess some of these people might be vegan but it is certainly not a part of "veganism" and no vegan who does this could claim to care about animal welfare.

Anonymous

It is if they feed them a meat based diet (which in the case of cats especially is what they must have) and then blast people for eating meat or animal products. Like I said cats must have meat. But if you are vegan and say that people are evil for eating meat when you feed it to your cat, YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE.

J

You can get Vegan pet food which is healthier than cat and dog food as they contain tumours + cats&dogs that have been put down by the RSPCA. The nutrients in cat&dog foods are synthetic so it makes no difference for them to eat Vegan pet food. Dogs are omnivores anyway & thrive on a Vegan diet. The taurine in cat food is synthetic so it makes no difference for it to be synthetic in cat food. Because cat food is so diseased and unhealthy it's actually healthier now for cats to eat Vegan cat food.

Misty

Not at all.

cat

No. People who are vegan choose to be so because we as humans have the liberty to have this diet healthily. As omnivores, most of us have the opportunity to be vegan without negative consequence to our health or quality of life and because of this vegans take the opportunity to ommit animal products. On the other hand, carnivorous pets do not have the choice. As they are not omnivores, their bodies are only suited for a meat-based diet and to deprive them of such would be cruel and therefore not vegan. The main moral of veganism is to reduce harm to animals and starving cats or dogs would definitely not fall into this. Of course I must disclose that this is highly opinionated. People go vegan for a plethora of reasons and a lot of people do try feeding their cats and dogs a plant-based diet. I personally don’t agree with this, and I don’t think the majority of vegans do either. But it definetely wouldn’t be hypocritical for vegans to feed cats and dogs meat. Hope I helped!

Sara

Yep.

Nekkid Truth!

Ya, kinda

ckngbbbls

a vegan does what he/she can to reduce animal death. Common sense prevails here.

scabs

Dogs are not carnivores for one thing, so a well planned vegan/vegetarian diet is perfectly alright for them. My future dog will be vegetarian. Yes, I've heard about the DCM/heart disease scare regarding potatoes and various legumes, but you aren't telling the whole story here. It's been grain free, boutique type kibbles (that self proclaimed internet dog experts like yourself often tout) causing DCM. Purina, Hills and (I believe?) Royal Canin are all in the clear despite their often high (depending on recipe) soybean meal and corn gluten meal content. They don't yet know exactly what is causing DCM, but it isn't a lack of meat, that's for sure. Zignature and Acana are both implicated in making dogs ill despite the hefty meat content of those foods. Cats, being actual carnivores, do need meat. You're right about that. It IS kind of hypocritical to kill one and love another, but the thing is, cats exist. Carnivores in general exist. Not only are there many carnivores sharing this planet with us, but a great many of them are dependent on us. Morals aren't black and white. There are always going to be inconsistencies. I don't see how It's hypocritical to feed an obligate carnivore meat though. Human beings aren't obligate carnivores. They don't need to eat meat. They don't need to support the meat industry. In any case, I'm not really all about purity or labels. I'm not about shaming other people for their choices, either. As someone who would be considered vegan by many of the people in this section (I don't eat or otherwise use any animal products at all), I plan to raise meat rabbits to feed to my cats because they need meat to live and thrive. Is that inconsistent/hypocritical? Hell yeah.  Is my stance vegan? Hell no. That's why I call myself a "vegetarian" if asked.

Todd

Yes. For the extreme vegan, owning a pet of any kind is wrong, especially a carnivorous pet.

p

There are cats and dogs worldwide that have vegan diets, and from what I have heard... they do just fine.

Trivial One

It's highly hypocritical. The central belief of original veganism is to not exploit animals. I can think of no greater exploitation than keeping an animal for your own enjoyment and amusement, and to make yourself feel honorable. If your beliefs center around animal abuse, then you are not a true vegan. They need to come up with a name for that.

Janet

Of course it is.

M'aiq The liar

Kinda. This is why I don't keep a cat around. They're cute and everything but they're horrific predators. And it doesn't seem nice to keep them indoors at all times but there's not a better alternative to what we've been doing as a species; which is to just let them hunt several birds to extinction and to pointlessly kill billions of animals... Dogs seem a little different. I've read some anecdotal evidence that they could survive on a well planned meatless diet. I wouldn't put a dog on such a diet because obviously anecdotal evidence isn't very good, but Id like to see more study on the subject.

Nibiru

No especially not compared to meat eaters who don't eat their cats and dogs or find that idea disturbing