This is one of my hardest subjects to form a solid opinion on, i am totally divided and hypocritical on this. I think harming animals for the sake of fun (population and ecology control still shouldn't really be fun), particularly pets, is awful. But, the main reason i think that is because i think the animals are cute, and i don't want them to suffer. Animals that i don't think are cute, like cows and pigs, i have no problem eating. It's entirely based on a perception that I can't seem to change... the "cuteness" factor.
we can cover all the obvious, like, food animals are treated humanely. But they're not. My dad worked on a cattle farm for the first 14 years of my life, and i saw it firsthand-- They endure temperatures *way* outside of their natural habitat, their food is not diverse like it would be naturally (in a lot of places, cows simply eat sick cow parts). Then in the final few weeks of their lives, they're separated from the herd, moved through disgusting feedlots (ever seen **** get 2 feet deep? i have) and electrically tortured, all the while incapable of moving freely, before being killed in very stressful circumstances by a metal spike driven through the skull. This sort of existence, even for an animal, is unfathomable to many of us. Yet i still would rate a rare steak in my top 5 greatest things list, and i don't think i'd have any luck going vegan (actually the only animal product i intentionally eat is meat, no dairy, so i'm closer than some). But i do support PETA's initiatives to prevent food animal suffering, including their boycott of KFC for the conditions the chickens were grown in. Paradoxically, i support PETA's idea that no animals should be kept as pets, yet i keep pets of my own... tho i justify that by saying, pygmie albino african hedgehogs wouldn't survive in nature at all.
Does all of the above mean i can't condemn animal cruelty? I don't think so-- if hypocrisy was shunned in our country, it would be a much different place. If anyone hurt one of my hedgies (i only have one now, but my dearly-departed other three are still in my mind) i'd probably seriously harm them before coming to my senses. They're my babies, they've trusted me since they were pups, and i'll gladly protect them. chickens and cows? i still think they should be kept and slaughtered as humanely as possible, but i believe it's in the natural order of things for humans to eat them.
paul