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This question isn't on the faq, and I'd really like an answer. I don't want to be a vegetarian. I do like the taste of my meat. I don't have time to hunt, so I can't have wild meat. Are there any companies who don't abuse animals like the videos we've seen and the articles we've read?

-E.A.

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Thank you for your inquiry to PETA. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

While PETA is willing to applaud any steps that farmers and ranchers take to improve the welfare of the animals for whom they are responsible, we also know that there is no truly humane way to "harvest" food from animals. The sheer number of animals required to feed our current meat habit makes individual attention to their wants and needs impossible (http://www.PETA.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=96).

Although we agree that eating food from animals is a personal choice, as an animal protection group, PETA cannot in good conscience condone or encourage the killing of animals for their flesh, just as the Cancer Project, for example, could not reasonably encourage the "choice" of cigarette smoking. For us to advocate the purchase of any kind of meat would imply that we endorse the use of animals for food "production," instead of recognizing that animals deserve consideration of their own best interests—regardless of whether they are useful to humans.

Ultimately, there is the simple moral principle that we do not have the right to manipulate and kill animals for our own purposes. Animals do not belong to us, and their lives are just as precious to them as ours are to us. A society that eats animals will always view them as possessions, products, and commodities, as opposed to individuals with feelings, families, and friendships. And as long as people view animals as objects, widespread institutionalized abuse is destined to continue.

The best thing anyone can do to help animals is to not eat them. Humans don’t require meat and other food from animals to live—and, in fact, we are better off without it. We have so many choices as consumers today that there’s simply no reason to continue to raise and slaughter animals for food. To learn more about why a vegetarian diet is the best choice for animals, humans and our environment, please visit http://www.GoVeg.com.

We hope this helps explain our "radical" position—to compromise it would be a betrayal of both the animals and our members. Thanks again for writing and for your concern for animals.

Sincerely,

The PETA Staff

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The best thing anyone can do to help animals is to not eat them. Humans don’t require meat and other food from animals to live—and, in fact, we are better off without it.

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to the staff at PETA,

I understand your position, and I agree with it 100%. It is my belief that we cannot help but take from nature, and if we stop eating animals it is just one part of the earth, too. We also must stop eating plants, fungi, breathing, drinking water, and just give our bodies to the earth. Unfortunately, we can't. ( I for one, am opposed to dying )

I am not here to change your opinion ( it would be vain to think that I could ). I understand that any mass-marketed meat producer isn't going to be as humane or compassionate as we all would love to see, but are there some who are less? Are there some who take a step to make the animals' lives better before they die?

You won't promote eating meat if you list a few alternate resources. What you are doing now is hiding behind that phrase and sending a message that all meat industries are bad, and that they all do this... Do they? To be fair to the people visiting your website, you should give all the information possible, so they can choose a balanced healthy choice based on every fact you possibly have, instead of your opinion and the truth you choose to see. Is is possible to compromise?