Are animal rights groups turning vegetarians back to meat?

How the glorification of vegetarianism (and other single issue campaigns) is confusing the public about animal rights. Are the animal rights groups promoting exploitation?

It seems the media are reporting a rising trend in vegetarians returning to eating meat. Could the big animal groups be to blame? 

Organisations such as Viva! and Animal Aid, claim to want to end all animal exploitation (the abolishment of animal use), but what are they actually promoting? Could their message to the pubic actually conflict with this goal?........

The problem of promoting vegetarianism-Why vegetarians are going back to eating meat.

Why vegetarianism isn’t working.

The following article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8884326/Vegetarians-now-showing-their-softer-side.html#disqus_thread cites “The number of vegetarians has dipped and plateaued over the past decade, partly because successful animal welfare campaigns have turned veggies back to meat.”



As we can see from the rise in articles like this, more and more vegetarians are going back to consuming meat, rather than becoming vegan. The attitude towards vegetarianism and animals themselves is pretty bleak, clearly the author of this particular article does not take them seriously. And is it any wonder? Spending time and resources promoting vegetarianism is not helping the animals. Indeed it seems it is damaging for animal advocates to do so. The message of rights for animals (not to be used as property) is being lost.

Firstly, the position of vegetarianism is an illogical one. It singles out and abstains from just one kind of animal use (flesh). This suggests that this use is morally worse or more “cruel” than all other ways of using animals. This is inaccurate; ALL animals in the dairy and egg industries are slaughtered and get eaten just as “meat animals” do. It could be argued that animals used for eggs and dairy in fact suffer more than those killed for meat (of course a lot of vegetarians are unaware of this). To just boycott meat but to continue to consume eggs, dairy, honey etc, is as silly as just boycotting dairy but continuing to consume meat, eggs and honey. It doesn’t make sense as a rational or moral matter. One of the problems with single issue campaigns (SICs).