Why I am not a vegan

[Monica]

My dog killed and ate part of a cat once. He killed another that he didn't eat.

Is this cruel action from a self-aware being?

Probably not, since killing other animals for food is still part of the dog's instinct. Domesticated dogs and cats are rather confused, I think, because they still have the instinct to hunt, but don't need to hunt anymore because we feed them kibble. So they hunt, but don't quite know what to do with their prey, so they end up playing with the dead animal.

Self-awareness has to happen before compassion. Your dog is self-aware, but hasn't yet developed compassion for the cat.

Some animals are developing awareness of others, even compassion, as shown in those videos of the swans, bears, etc. but those are exceptional. I just mentioned that to show that animals are capable of not only self-awareness (criteria for 3D) but even some compassion (criteria for 4D) in some instances. So it simply isn't accurate to say that they don't have self-awareness when some are even going beyond self-awareness and showing awareness of and consideration for others as well.

They still do have some animal instinct too though, so I don't think it's cruelty when their 'animal' nature comes out, as it did with your dog. It's a mixture.

I suppose it's possible, though. Since some are displaying compassion and love, then it stands to reason that some might intentionally be cruel.

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