No. You see the abundant food choices in developed countries and yet only a small percentage of the population is vegetarian or vegan.
The reason why people choose a vegetarian/vegan diet is also varied and sometimes has nothing to do with wanting to stop the suffering of animals. Losing weight, a healthier body, peer group pressure are alternate motivations.
The decisive factor is not poverty.
I was also in the Philippines, and I was able to eat quite well for my 3 months there. I ate rice, beans, fruits and vegetables. My costs were the same as a local.
> Your inability to accept the reality of this kind of desperation and suffering tells me how much of this true compassion you actually feel.
Get a grip and don't try to judge my level of compassion or understanding regarding these people. I have been to worse places in India, where there is a large % of the population who are vegetarian and who live in abject poverty.
If people are inclined to, they will eat vegetarian. The cost of meat is more than than rice/beans/lentils/dhal etc.
THIS is where you're misunderstanding- the stray dogs and cats these families eat are free; hard to find rice and beans that are cheaper than that. You're telling me to stop judging another person's compassion? The hypocrisy here absolutely reeks. Flagging my comment because a fact disagrees with your paradigm is certainly mature. I'm disengaging- I won't free you of your delusions. Good grief.
My point before you went on this tangent of people living in slums, is that a vegetarian diet is cheaper and more compassionate. So here are some facts for your wazoo....
As you can clearly see, vegetables and grains cost less than meat.
Your point, that killing and eating stray dogs, rats, cats, etc, because they are freely available, is an absolute extreme fringe case and you negate the fact that these slum inhabitants also earn money and they can buy vegetables and live a more compassionate life if they chose to.
Also I did some research on your claims about slums, in the Payatas slum outside of Manilla city near Quezon, the couple in the below linked article with their 4 children eat food from dumpster diving known as "pagpag" even though they earn up to 1000 pesos per day. It is a choice they make to eat discarded meat. They don't have to, but they choose to.
You can try to make a point that eating free stray dogs is necessary for impoverished slum dwellers, but the facts seem to contradict your position. Killing is never compassionate.
BTW, I didn't flag your comment, someone else who doesn't like the smell of your BS emotionally charged rant did.
