[Susan9608]

I don't really understand the difference between what you're asking and the answers people are giving you ....

If everyone in the world suddenly quit eating meat all at once, some of the badly abused, ill, and in terrible condition would need to be humanely euthanized. That's the only thing that could ethically and practically be done for them.

As for the others, well, many people would have to make many sacrifices to see that those millions of animals were transferred into the care of sanctuaries and refuges. In those areas, animals originally intended for consumption could live out their lives with dignity and respect, and away from human interference as much as possible.

I believe this is what PETA does with the factory farm animals they rescue.

If people were to suddenly stop eating meat, there would be no reason to keep breeding those animals. I suppose there would be the odd person out there who might want to keep a chicken or a pig or a cow or goat as a pet, but generally, those animals are not the greatest house pets and most individuals do not have the means necessary to sustain them in the right kind of environment. I think, gradually, as people got farther away from eating meat, less and less of these "food" animals would be bred ... and at some point, they would become either entirely domesticated and kept as exotic pets or they would die out.

I don't think that's a tragedy. To me, the loss of a species is a tragedy when that species is lost because it's habitat has been totally destroyed by human beings and there's no way for that species to exist normally in the wild. That's a tragedy. I also think it's a tragedy when a species has been hunted to the point of extinction ... hunted for further or feathers or ivory or something else that human beings just *have* to have. When an animal dies out because of human interference, I think that's a tragedy.

But when human interference keeps a species from dying out simply to have around to use and abuse - like in the case of farm animals - and breeds more and more and more and more of them - I don't think it would be a bad thing if those animals were gone. Certainly it would be better for them to have "gone on" in the continuum of existence then to continue a worldly existence at the mercies of the cruelest species to ever roam the earth.

I think it would be sad to lose out on having pets and companion animals and such ... but I think it would be far better for the animals to not be subjected to the cruel nature of some human beings.

From an economic stand-point - I think that the meat industry will change slowly and that meat substitutes will replace animal flesh in the market place. Generally when one industry shuts down or becomes obselete, there's another one waiting to take it's place; the economic shake up, I imagine, will be minimal ... and honestly, would not be my greatest concern, especially not in one of the richest countries on the planet.