I find it interesting how your tone changed after that question.

What is it about this that made you feel bad?

Yes, they are just as alive. I don't think the issue is merely that animals are alive, though.

I haven't claimed they are. It's the reasoning that is the same in both scenarios.

Volcanoes and geysers are not the same, but there are still similarities between them from which we can draw comparisons.

Not if you think about it from the top-down -- it seems like it's making no difference. But if you think about it from the bottom up, it's making a huge difference.

It reminds me of the boy and the starfish story:

>One day a man was walking along the beach, when he noticed a boy hurriedly picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.

>Approaching the boy, he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?”

>The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

>The man laughed to himself and said, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference!”

>After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference to that one.”

"I say this as a person who owns dogs for dog fighting. This all or nothing attitude when it comes to dog fighting is so polarizing it thwarts progress. I have forced so many dogs to fight to the death. Come back when you have first hand experience."

This is what you sound like.

The entire situation is not necessary. It's not necessary to eat eggs. If you stop paying for them, you stop demanding for this to happen.

You don't have to do anything with chicks that don't exist.

Why not both?

There will never be top-down action so long as it remains profitable and people just see it as an acceptable thing they feel ok paying for.

An extremely painful "very short time." They often are bounced around on the blades for a second as well, getting all cut up more and more with every bounce.

Would you be ok with this or something similar being done to you, a dog, cat, etc.. as long as it was quick?

This might be slightly less un-ethical than other methods, but it's still far from ethical.

Slight correction -- this is what happens in hatcheries for egg-laying chickens. The males are considered useless, so they are killed on their first day of life. When you pay for eggs, this is what you are demanding with your money. Time to stop eating eggs.