When you buy a product, you fund the chain that produced it. That is where the idea of consumer responsibility starts: if animals can feel, our food choices have consequences for them. Here are the main arguments, put calmly and without reproach.
In short
- By buying a product, we financially support the way it was obtained.
- If an animal can feel, how it is treated matters to it, however “intelligent” it is.
- European law recognises animals as sentient beings, and the New York Declaration (2024) says it is irresponsible to ignore the possibility of conscious experience.
- Veganism is one practical way to reduce your own contribution.
Consumer responsibility
Someone who eats meat can say they have not killed anyone. But with the money they pay at the market or the shop, they support a system in which others do it for them. The same goes for eggs, dairy or leather: consumer demand keeps the system running. This is not an accusation, only a description: every purchase says what we support.
Intelligence is not the right criterion
It is sometimes said that animals deserve less care because they are less intelligent than humans. But there are big differences in intelligence among people too, and we do not accept that the least intelligent should be protected less. The criterion that matters ethically is the capacity to suffer. On this, see Animals feel: what science says: the New York Declaration mentions strong scientific support for mammals and birds and a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates and many invertebrates.
The same animal, two treatments
Many societies protect their companion animals, while other animals are seen as food or as “pests”. Those who see a contradiction here are not accusing anyone: they ask why a being that feels is treated differently only because it has a different “function” for us.
Rights or welfare?
There are two approaches in public debate. Animal welfare asks for better conditions and stricter rules; European law goes in this direction, requiring that agriculture, fisheries, transport and other policies pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals, since they are sentient beings (Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU). Animal rights go further: they hold that animals should not be used as resources. The two approaches do not exclude each other, and you can support either.
What you can do
- Start with a few vegan meals a week and add more gradually: see the Vegan guide to Moldova and Fasting food.
- Find out which nutrients deserve attention in A vegan diet: the nutrients to watch.
- Read answers to common questions in Frequently asked questions – ethics (in Romanian).
- Talk about these topics calmly, without reproach: people change what they understand more easily than what is imposed on them.
Sources
- The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness (NYU, 19 April 2024)
- EUR-Lex: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 13
Updated: 26 October 2026
Spotted a translation error? Please tell us via the Contact page.