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Cruelty depends on knowing what is moral and choosing to do something immoral. In this case, humans are cruel for knowing animals are sentient yet still subjecting them to horrible conditions and painful lives just to satisfy our pallette. The lion is not cruel for eating the zebra because it is necessary for its survival.

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The cattle on farms wouldn't be off roaming the countryside if we didn't eat them. They just simply wouldn't exist at all.

Is unpleasant existence always better than nonexistence?

Put another way, would you make the same argument if the creatures in question were people?

Might it be moral to destroy all life on Earth, thus ending all pain?

This is always what I assumed a genie would do if you wished for world peace.

Yeah, that's the plan. Animals aren't ours, and we should not interfere with their natural selection.

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