Sigh The problem is so big, and so deeply rooted in our culture and history as predators/scavengers, that I just don't want to even go down this line of thinking - it's very very likely true animals have clear consciousness, but I'm not sure that would even change things.
The sooner we can move to indistinguishable (and cheaper) lab-grown meat, the better. I have very little hope of changing enough minds or culture to simply not eat meat, but I have considerable hope that we can trick ourselves through better savings and taste. Seems like the tech is going to land that direction. Full steam ahead - let's be weird pacifist vampires gorging off brainless flesh growths. Our apology can be a happy "never again!" as we dig into marbled wagu slabs.