Marius The Giraffe And The Reality Of Eating Meat

There has been a lot of outrage in the media about the "slaughter" and subsequent autopsy and feeding to the lions of Marius the giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo, with public outcries, online condemnation, and forums exploding with people expressing their feelings on the subject. I didn't want Marius to die either. I think giraffes are wonderful animals, and I hate the idea of killing one. However, there are a few things I can't understand:

1. Is there a difference between killing a giraffe and killing a cow?

2. Do some animals deserve more protection than others? (side note: obviously some animals require more protection, but do try to keep up with what I'm saying here)

3. Aren't all animals equally important?

4. Are you vegan?

If your answers are "yes", "yes", "no", and "no" (if the 3 first questions are answered like that, the 4th will inevitably be "no"), you relinquish the right to have an opinion on the matter. If you happily eat cows, pigs, sheep etc. you have no right to complain that a "healthy" giraffe is "slaughtered". All of the animals you eat were perfectly happy and healthy before they were killed for your benefit. No wait, scratch that - most of them were actually living lives of misery in confined spaces, being fed "food" that's not natural to their systems, often being fattened to the point of it affecting their development, leading to all sorts of injuries and troubles. Many of these animals are also handled in ways you wouldn't wish on your worst enemies; chickens, for example, will have the ends of their beaks cut off, and male chicks will be ground alive because they're not "useful". These animals are the animals you and I buy - we support this treatment of them by giving money to the people who are behind it. But lo and behold: a giraffe - who's had a much better life than most cows we've ever eaten - is put down by the zoo (by people who most likely loved him and were sad to do it), used for educational purposes (the children were not traumatized, and considering the state of teenagers nowadays we might want to implement a bit more hands on education everywhere in the world), and then fed to lions (who eat giraffes on the savannah). Unless you're vegan or just don't eat animals without applying a label to yourself, please do not comment on sensationalized stories like this one. You're making a fool out of yourself. The video below is an interview with Bengt Holst, the chief of Copenhagen Zoo, and I feel he answers the questions posed by the rather emotional and infantile reporter very rationally.

I'm all for animal activism, but unless you're a herbivore, please refrain from commenting on which animals are used for food. This giraffe may, in your opinion, have been killed for "no reason", but so is each and every cow that makes up the burgers you eat in the eyes of, say, anyone who's vegan.

What dictates who's more important?

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Yours,