a typical farmed cow's life

a farmed cow is kept in extremely confined stalls for much of her life, on concrete floors, resulting in numerous injuries and illnesses. most are not given enough space to lie down
she is hooked up to a painful mechanism (that the industry refers to as a "rape rack") so she can be forcefully impregnated, as is necessary for her to produce milk
she is fed not a healthy diet, but one that maximizes milk production
she has been bred to produce much more milk than usual when pregnant, making it difficult for her legs to support her weight
her children have spiked rings put through their noses to prevent suckling, as they compete with the dairy industry for their own mother's milk
her children are then torn away from her, leaving the mother in extreme distress
if the child is female, she will likely suffer the same life as her mother
if male, he is likely murdered for meat after a few months of suffering in darkness, if not immediately due to being considered waste
then the mother is again raped to produce more milk and offspring
at 5-6 years old, the mother, who would ordinarily live up to 20+ years in her natural environment, is murdered for her flesh and skin after her body has been broken down from intensive forced reproduction and milking
many cows that develop illnesses from their abuse are left to die in agony
then the meat and dairy industry plasters a cartoon happy cow face on products made from her torture, possibly labeling it "free-range" because she was allowed outside for at least a part of her life
more than 300 million cows suffer this hell on earth around the world every year, but no one hears them

her body is used as a cog in a machine that:
including water used to grow feed, uses anywhere from 400 to 1,000 gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk, and 1,800 to 4,000 gallons for one pound of beef

emits more greenhouse gases than all of the world's transportation systems combined

uses ~80% of the world's agricultural land to produce just ~20% of its supply of calories in meat and dairy

a typical farmed pig's life

a farmed pig, one of the most intelligent animals on earth, spends most, if not all of his life crammed into confined spaces with thousands of others
pained squealing permeates his prison at all times
ordinarily a very clean being, only using mud to regulate his body temperature in his natural environment, he is instead forced to wallow in his own waste, putting him at risk of disease
the living conditions anguish him mentally, causing him to become unnaturally aggressive, so he is further mutilated of his teeth and tail, without painkillers, often resulting in infection
his sister, soon to give birth, is moved to a cage barely bigger than her body for the next few weeks
once her children are born, there is a chance one or more will die from hypothermia, starvation due to the mother being unable to move in order to feed them, or be crushed to death from the lack of space
at less than a month old, her surviving children are taken away from her
whereas she would naturally live up to 12 years, at just half a year old she is dragged screaming and struggling into a gas chamber where her insides are burned as she suffocates in unfathomable pain
sometimes the pig is instead stunned electrically, which often fails, leaving them in agony as they are hung and their throat slit
more than 1.5 billion pigs are doomed to this life every year, but no one hears them

a typical farmed chicken's life

for chickens farmed for both their eggs and flesh, a male is murdered as a baby as he cannot lay eggs
a female is kept in an incredibly crowded pen or cage for almost, if not her entire life, leaving her barely able to move
to get around laws regarding minimum floor space per captive chicken, she is stacked on top of others. if she is in the EU, she is granted the mercy of having less than an A4 sheet of paper's worth of her own space
much of her beak is seared off so she cannot peck those with whom she is in confinement, resulting in intense long-lasting pain
she is made to live in her own disease-ridden waste, requiring her masters to wear masks
being unable to engage in her natural behaviors wreaks havoc on her physical and mental health
she has been bred to produce 20-30 times more eggs than is normal
at around 1 year old, she is murdered once her body has been too abused to produce anymore eggs, when she would naturally live around 7 years
for chickens bred specifically for their feathers and flesh, they are bred to be several times their usual weight, causing a wide range of painful physical ailments often leaving them unable to walk
after 3 months, they are then murdered
more than 75 billion chickens' lives are claimed every year in these conditions, but no one hears them

"i want to defend this"

sure, but first off,

yes, plant-based diets are healthy(er)

no, something being legal, "the norm", tradition, or it happening "locally" does not make it okay

no, a wild animal doing something does not justify intelligent humans doing it to other innocent animals

and no, wild animals do not systemically breed billions of innocent animals every year into enslavement and torture

no, there being no ethical consumption under capitalism does not give free rein to consume as unethically as possible

no, "perfect" being unattainable does not justify throwing "bare minimum" out the window

yes, most, if not all of the practices you've learned about do happen in your country

no, you cannot "humanely" murder someone who doesn't want to die for someone else's pleasure

no, someone paying someone else to do something for them does not absolve them of responsibility

yes, if someone can afford a diet derived from animal cruelty they can very likely afford one derived from plants

and no, a plant-based diet does not mean costly takeout and animal product substitutes

yes, one person can make a difference, and if they purchase animal products they are already making a negative one

no, bringing someone into the world with the intent of hurting them does not justify hurting them

and yes, i will call child protective services on anyone who disagrees with this

no, nobody reading this lives on a deserted island and has an infinitesimally rare assortment of health conditions that makes eating plants impossible

and no, even if someone else did, that is not an excuse for someone who doesn't to engage in unnecessary violence

no, plants don't feel pain

and no, even if they did, that would not justify inflicting pain on even more beings than is necessary

yes, fish feel pain and distress

and no, even if someone doesn't feel physical pain, that does not justify murdering them for pleasure

no, animals being killed unintentionally during crop harvesting does not justify torturing and killing trillions more intentionally

no, crops would not take up nearly as much land if the world went plant-based as they currently do to breed factory-farmed animals

no, an ultimately meaningless phrase from a disney movie ("circle of life") is not a justification for violence

and yes, that is where it comes from

no, being born into a life of torture and slavery is not better than not being born at all

no, someone being less intelligent or unable to fight back does not justify their oppression

no, a choice that involves inflicting harm on others is not a "personal" one

no, not finding someone "cute" does not mean they deserve to suffer

and yes, all these animals are cute

yes, someone having to find a new job when their previous job was torture and murder is in fact a good thing

no, wanting to eliminate needless violence is not "a white thing"

and yes, implying it's racist because violence is embedded in another race's culture, as well as erasing sects of said race that practice nonviolence is, itself, extremely racist

no, making someone feel guilty for enthusiastically funding cruelty is not worse than enthusiastically funding cruelty

yes, these are all arguments i've heard people make

and no, i don't think they even believe what they're saying, i think they just want an excuse to not change their habits