It is mutually beneficial. We supply them a life that they would otherwise be without, we protect them from danger and supply them with food and shelter, and in exchange when they reach a certain stage in their development, we take the life we gave them back and reutilize the resources we gave them.
But this implies that animals owe us something, because we 'gave' them life. The opposite is more correct, that if you bring animals to life then you have the burden of responsibility for this state, unwanted/unasked for as it always is. It is YOU that bought this creature to life, it is therefore YOU that is responsible with providing it with a satisfactory existence. The animal owe's you nothing whatsoever. This is not a fair exchange. It is almost evil to say- look at this unwanted gift I give you, now suffer for the duration of it because you should (but can't really) appreciate this above the alternative void. That is expecting way too much from most animals and is illogical and unfair. I appreciate your sentiment, but I think this view is slightly reversed or something.
Truly not attacking
you here, this is something that I hear quite commonly, that animals are in debt to us because they otherwise would not have lived. I just believe the opposite is true. I think it is the least we can do, to provide quality of life to lifeforms that we have forced to live.
The farmers that I know, treat their animals fairly. Some even love them. Its all a matter of perspective. I am not much for seeing things in black or white.
I'm sure some farmers do, but in reality, ALL should. They owe everything to their animals, their entire lives- why not make this obligatory, that if you are going to take a creatures life, that you show it some natural justice and grant it some peace and the space to breed/live out their biological imperative, at least for a while? Or at least get rid of fucking devices like sow-stalls and see them for the utterly
inhuman practises they are! Their is very little to lose by doing so. I dunno if that sounds naive, because if people want to eat meat everyday, its unlikely that organic and free range farming will ever supply that quantity and factory farming will continue to be the norm.
In my opinion, this is close to evil. What has happened to this great quality of human empathy when the majority of people seem to be willing to ignore this:
I'd point out the cute timidity of the runt standing awkwardly at the back, but the system that animal is part of is unwilling to allow such an animal its natural inclination, and its weakness is unprofitable and has already doomed it. What is the fucking point of that sort of existence? I would rather die then live in pain or confined- that is not life, that is a mockery of it.