To Ne@nderthal from Elaine
Dominionism (Speciesism, class abuse, sexixm etc and all human abuse) IS the central issue since the abuse of humans over animals spills over into human society
ANY exploitation *legitimizes* ALL exploitation which spills over into humans abusing humans.
The domination and abuse of certain humans is "justified" by relegating the exploited human to animals status, (such as slaves and women). At one time, slaves and women were said to have no souls—like the animals.
Consider who said this—the dominators who abuse power in their societies.

I'm not saying all who eat meat or inadvertantly exploit animals ARE cruel, I am focusing on the *practice of meat eating and all animal exploataion* as a form of domination (abuse of power) over the animals.
In an imperfect world with limited choices, all we can do is to try to avoid food and inductries that exploit animals whenever we are able to. Hope this clears my arguement up.
Regards, Elaine