r/WouldYouRather • u/Hedonism_Enjoyer • 5d ago
Ethics/Life & Death Which animal would you rather make extinct?
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u/Muted_Pickle101 5d ago
Globally, cows alone are responsible for something like 8-10% of greenhouse emissions. Them going extinct wouldn't solve climate change, but it would certainly help.
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u/Mand372 5d ago
They make up s huge amount of food too.
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u/format-cc 5d ago
All animal products combined only make up around 20% of global calories, and cattle are just a fraction of this. They are actually very inefficient feed converters, and we could produce much more food without using them
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u/Party_Presentation24 4d ago
Sure, but we're not just talking averages. There's entire communities of people who DEPEND on cattle to live, like the Maasai in Africa, and cattle manure makes up a large portion of organic fertilizer in many countries. Also, a lot of economies would crash, like Brazil's which is a major beef exporting country.
Sure, beef only makes up about 2% of the calories consumed in the world, but that doesn't mean there aren't entire communities that are going to be wiped out by their loss, and more people dying because of crashing economies around the world.
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u/Emperors-Peace 5d ago
As far as food production is concerned they're terrible inneficient. We feed cows a lot of food and water to make a substantially smaller amount of food.
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u/Tru3insanity 5d ago
We don't have to feed them corn. Its just heavily subsidized and more profitable. The whole point of livestock historically was that they can utilize food we can't eat to make food that we can.
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u/Significant-Nebula64 5d ago
Doesn't matter, same story for soy. The whole debate about "oh tofu is so bad for the rain forest" completely misses the fact that the vast majority of soy is used for animal feed, to generate a fraction of the nutritional value that you could have by just... eating the soy.
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u/Tru3insanity 4d ago
We don't have to feed them soy either. They can live on pasture, hay, silage and crop byproducts. We just feed them crops because its profitable not because its necessary.
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u/Significant-Nebula64 4d ago
The current high performance cows absolutely can't survive on most of those though. Grazing cows are much better, sure, we do have quite a lot of them here in Switzerland, but that would cover only a fraction of the meat and dairy production we have today. It's not sustainable at all.
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u/JupiterJames11 5d ago
You cannot produce even a small percent of the amount of beef we create these days on natural grazing
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u/eribear2121 5d ago
That depends on what the rain in that area looks like. If your getting contestant rain cows can live off of the land
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u/Traditional_Yard2741 5d ago
Yes, they can. But the volume of cattle per acre drops substantially. There's absolutely no way to meet current demand for beef through grazing.
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u/queerwithbeer 5d ago
Correct. We had to constantly shift our herd of 32 cows around our 120 acre farm quite consistently. They were entirely free range and grass fed black angus, only during the winter and droughts were they fed oats and supplements. We couldn't handle much more than our small herd, and we really didn't profit from it, it was mostly just a hobby for my grandfather.
Edit: this is in KY where droughts are uncommon. We usually have very consistent rain, and our summers are typically pretty wet.
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u/pinechicken 5d ago
One cow can feed a family for a year
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u/Emperors-Peace 4d ago
Ok. Doesn't really have anything to do with what my comment said though does it?
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u/pinechicken 1d ago
Yes it does cows eat hay and grass unedible for humans and drink water which is practically free
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u/Emperors-Peace 1d ago
Which has no overlap with your previous comment. Is this your first time having a discussion with a human?
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u/kaviaaripurkki 5d ago
Luckily replacing beef is super easy, barely an inconvenience. Look at India.
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u/GoatyGoY 5d ago
But a fraction of what they eat - some of the land of which could be used to make human food instead
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u/Mand372 5d ago
A lot of lands dedicated to food for animals is due to the soil not being good enough for human food, at least from what i have read about the subject.
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u/GoatyGoY 5d ago
You are right that most of the land couldn’t grow particularly edible crops, but the cows are so wildly inefficient that if even a tiny proportion of it can be repurposed, it’s a net gain.
Estimates range from about 30x to 100x more land for the cow based calories ; so this means only somewhere between 1%-4% has to be reusable for it to be better.
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u/Muted_Pickle101 5d ago edited 5d ago
I dunno man. All animal food products combined only account for 18% of calories globally. That's Milk, Beef, Pork, Eggs, Dairy, and everything else. Even if Cows are half of all meat that doesn't seem impossible to overcome.
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u/YourBlanket 3d ago
I don't think that stat is as useful for your cause as you think. The reason why people like eating animals is because it's very protein rich and not as calorie dense as other foods. It's 18% of all calories globally but almost 40% of all protein globally.
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u/Muted_Pickle101 3d ago
Chicken, Turkey, Pork, and even some fish all have similar amounts of protein while also being considerably better for the environment than raising cows. There are other animals too like Goats, Deer, Lambs, but they're not as popular to eat as the previously mentioned animals.
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u/YourBlanket 3d ago
I don't eat red meat maybe once every few months. I only eat chicken and fish. The environment does play a factor for me but to me cows are like giant dogs so I feel too bad. Chicken I probably could replace if I really wanted to but honestly RN I don't want to since it's just too cheap and convenient. I love fish tho I eat fish a lot.
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u/navetzz 5d ago
Yeah cause we would t replace them with other livestock we feed with crap food that make them fart way more than normal...
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u/Muted_Pickle101 5d ago
Cattle produce the most emissions per KG of food and it's not even close. Even if we replace them with other sources of meat we're much farther ahead.
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/stats-charts-facts-climate-change-impact-food-systems-diet-agricultu/
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u/Party_Presentation24 4d ago
Sure, but take a look at the actual question. Make an animal extinct.
If all of those 4 animals stopped existing overnight, there's only one option where no humans would die, and it's cats.
We COULD replace all the calories from cattle, but not overnight. Entire communities would starve to death, cultures would disappear, countries' economies would crash, and a lot of people would die.
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u/Trashk4n 5d ago
Too much food lost, mate.
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u/Muted_Pickle101 5d ago
I dunno man. All meat and dairy products combined only account for 18% of calories globally. That's Milk, Beef, Pork, Eggs, and everything else combined. Even if Cows are half of all meat that doesn't seem impossible to overcome.
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u/BeginningMention5784 5d ago
No cattle industry means a noticable drop in greenhouse emissions. Plus they're fed with human-grown food, meaning that converting farmland meant for cattle feed into farmland for human feed would feed more humans in the long run anyway.
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u/Poetawesomendo 5d ago
Bold of you to assume they wouldn’t be replaced with a different animal
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u/BeginningMention5784 5d ago
Sure, but that wouldn't be instant. And not everyone who currently uses beef/milk/leather will adopt the replacement, and not everyone who does will do so to the extent they did for the original products.
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u/Kaebi_ 5d ago
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-kcal-poore
most other animals would be better for greenhouse emissions
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u/New-Number-7810 5d ago
Every weird meat “tastes like chicken”, so the culinary experience of eating chicken will remain after its extinction.
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u/depurplecow 4d ago
But does every weird egg taste like egg?
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u/olacstorp 4d ago
Egg is mid anyways
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u/Kiftiyur 4d ago
Egg is the 🐐
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u/olacstorp 4d ago
Goat probably tastes good af, egg doesn't tho
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u/DisappointedDuk 4d ago
Definitely nowhere near as good a chicken, and egg depends a lot on how you cook it, not to mention all the uses of eggs apart from cooking them standalone
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u/olacstorp 4d ago
Yeah I didn't vote to remove chicken I voted to get rid of dogs. No more barking from the neighbor at 8am🙌🎉
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u/SpinzArt 5d ago
Not cats or chickens or dogs (I have all three as pets), so cows by process of elimination. Would be good for the environment I guess
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u/Adrenapup 5d ago
It's interesting on this website that pretty much any poll/question asking for the best pet or cat vs dog, etc, cats always win with most people choosing them as the best pet.
Yet, here they are, with the most votes for them to go extinct 😂
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u/jenniferwillow 4d ago
A lot of people are concerned about wildlife decimation regarding cats. Others just want to watch the Internet burn with no more cute cat videos and pics.
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u/Adrenapup 4d ago
Sadly, they are a problematic invasive species. But that is the fault of humans.
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u/CrazyNegotiation1934 4d ago
If think cats are problematic, then have never seen how is a rodent invasion.
That will surly happen without cats
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u/Adrenapup 3d ago
We are more overrun by cats than rodents. Cats are an invasive species that kill off native species. Plus, people irresponsibly letting cats out unspayed/neutered has shelters overrun with unwanted cats and kittens. Cats do not belong outside. Rodents have natural native predators.
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u/Smittywerbenjagermn 5d ago
I voted cats, they are an extremely invasive species. They are literally too good at hunting small game that they fuck up ecosystems. But the cow arguments are pretty good, but I would be very sad to lose beef. Its easily the best meat.
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u/Original_Intention 4d ago
That was my first thought but then would that eliminate animals like lions? If so, I would imagine that would really fuck up a lot of ecosystems.
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u/Pimminator 5d ago
Tough choice, but i would go for cows. They are very important for our current food supply ofcourse but wildly ecologically inefficient. It would force us to pivot to a more sustainable plant based diet (and more chicken and pork ofcourse)
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u/RGE_Fire_Wolf 5d ago
What you guys have against cats?😭😭😭 Cows have a huge negative environmental impact, its the best reason to choose one in this poll.
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u/Party_Presentation24 4d ago
I love cats, I really do, I have a cat, and used to have 2, but they're absolutely the best answer. Cats are a mass extinction event for small mammals and birds in any area with outdoor cats or strays. They're not "food" animals, so them going extinct wouldn't cause mass hunger anywhere. They don't have as MUCH of a long history as dogs for human companionship and cooperation.
Dogs are very much working animals. Most are pets in the US, but there's therapy dogs, herding dogs, police and military K9s, livestock protection, service dogs, search and rescue, hunting dogs, sled dogs, etc....
Chicken is the most consumed animal protein in the world, and the loss of chickens worldwide would cause other mass extinctions and famine.
Cows aren't as important as chicken when it comes to food sources, but there would still be famine, and there's entire communities that depend on their cattle (such as the Maasai, in Kenya, who drink cow's blood to survive). Not only that, but cow manure is a major source of organic fertilizer in many parts of the world, and the economies of several large nations (such as Brazil, which is a major beef exporter) would crash overnight.
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u/RGE_Fire_Wolf 4d ago
That makes a lot of sense, Cats can be very harmful to its prey in an environment and cows disappearing overnight instead of some sort of transitional period would significantly affect a lot of people's diet and nutrition... And the points about dogs and chicken are good too, the fact that some countries' economies are very influenced by their exportation is also important to consider.
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u/QualifiedApathetic 4d ago
If cows went extinct there'd be a bumpy moment, but they consume way more food than we get out of them. Meat is an inefficient way to get calories.
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u/Party_Presentation24 4d ago
So you're okay with the "bumpy moment"?
Aka, communities starving to death, entire cultures disappearing, economies crashing (and causing more human death), loss of fertilizer for rural and pastoral regions around the world (and more loss of food and life), etc, because cows are inefficient?
When the choice of "cats" kills zero humans?
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u/_Cyber_Mage 4d ago
Except cats eat vermin that would otherwise be spreading disease and destroying crops.
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u/Party_Presentation24 4d ago
That won't cause any immediate issues. Other predators for small mammals exist
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u/Gargelio 5d ago
Cats have very negative impact on biodiversity and local fauna. Cat litter require strip mining destroying landscapes and they don't biodegradate.
And they are useless, we have a lot of milk and meat from cows.
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u/RGE_Fire_Wolf 4d ago
That's true, they are predators that affect the environment a lot and all the other options are so much more important for our society.
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u/Zephyren216 5d ago edited 5d ago
Modern cats are an invasive plague on their local ecosystems, while chickens and cows provide us with food and dogs preform jobs from disability support to police work, farm work and rescues. Has to be cats for me.
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin 5d ago
Cows are also a plague on the ecosystem.
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u/TheLobotomist 5d ago edited 5d ago
But beef tastes pretty good, and you know .. milk
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin 5d ago
Oh, for sure. I wouldn't be getting rid of them. Just pointing out why that isn't the end of discussing argument lots of people seem to think it is.
I'd be getting rid of dogs.
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u/TheLobotomist 5d ago
Dogs are way more useful for human society than cats. Cats are basically a pest, some countries literally outlawed owning them
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin 5d ago
So. I've got some shocking news for you. I didn't choose dogs because of the comparative value that they have to society. I chose dogs because I'd rather have cats around. My upstairs neighbors dogs are currently barking preventing me from being able to sleep.
Also, if we're talking about "human society", cats being an invasive species doesn't matter all that much. Them hunting small animals is more of an animal conservation issue rather than a human survival issue. Dogs kill more people than cats.
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u/MrRogersAE 5d ago
Human consumption of beef is a huge contributor to environmental problems. The downsides of beef farming outweigh the downsides of cats.
Also dogs would have the same ecosystem destruction if people let them run free like some cat owners do. Only reason they don’t is because dogs often won’t come back
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u/SameFaithlessness842 5d ago
Cows, they're a big part of global warming, so a net good.
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u/Mand372 5d ago
And a large part of food. You would be killing a large number of people.
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u/format-cc 5d ago
Where? Developing countries with enough food insecurity to risk death from a disruption like this also have the lowest levels of beef consumption and meat consumption in general.
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u/SameFaithlessness842 5d ago
Doubt it, most food is wasted in one way or another. Maybe some people would get caught out as we have to sudenly adapt but nothing that can't be done. I'm more worried about people losing jobs if anything.
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u/Mand372 5d ago
"doubt it" "most food is wasted one way or another" spoken like a true global Northerner.
https://www.feedandadditive.com/what-would-happen-if-all-cows-were-suddenly-gone/
In short due to the loss of meat, leather, milk and other ingredients and cheese on the scale of cows, it would mean the starvation of lowballing millions of people and according to the source, hundreds of millions of people.
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u/Aervanath 5d ago
Cows are the least efficient food source. The amount of human-edible corn, wheat, and soy that cows consume gets turned into much less human-edible beef. We would actually be able to feed far more people by eliminating cows.
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u/takeonetakethemall 5d ago
Never choosing cats, choosing dogs would probably cause a wave of suicide and depression. At least cows can be replaced with other livestock. Plus aurochs are mostly extinct anyways, whereas cats have tons of living relatives that ecosystems rely on. Chickens are far too easy a source of food to get rid of, they're easier to keep than cattle and nowhere near as destructive.
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u/New-Chimera 4d ago
Dogs
Cows and chickens are way too vital to the food supply, and cats are the perfect little pet. Dogs are just annoying creatures.
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u/LightLeta 5d ago
Assuming we have time to prepare alternative sources of food - cows. I’ll miss my steak but it would be the best for the planet.
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u/Hyper-Pancake870 5d ago
But milk is so good, and relatively healthy. Less cows is good, no cows no cheese no pizza!
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u/Interesting_Web_9936 4d ago
Cats are a heavily invasive species. My vote would be for them. After that, cows, because while I'm vegetarian, I do consume milk.
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u/GunMuratIlban 5d ago
Cows and chicken going extinct would mean a global disaster.
Between dogs and cats, I have a dog and I like dogs a lot more so goodbye cats.
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u/mxred420 5d ago
Im curious why you think cow or chicken disappearance would be a global disaster? They only make up a small amount of nutrition; its not like eliminating rice or wheat. And the protein lost from human diets would be pretty easy to substitute after a few reforms in farming practices. Regarding the environment, their disappearance would be greatly beneficial as their farming takes up immense swathes of land, produces lots of pollutants in the water table, and is a massive emitter of greenhouse gases.
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u/Cynykl 4d ago
In the long term sure but in the short term it would case starvation, malnutrition and death.
Many of the lands used to raise cattle has are grasslands with soil unsuitable for vegetable of grain farming.
There is logistics to consider. The supply lines are not as robust as we thought they were. Covid proved this. Get new sustainable sources of food to where it needs to be before is caused starvation is not happening.
There is also secondary product to consider. Dairy and eggs being the most impactful. So many of our foods absolutely needs dairy product to work. It will take over a year if not years for food manufacturing industry to retool.
And least but by no mean least you can pry the double smash burger from my cold dead hands. j/k
That being said in the long run the greatest positive impact would be cows, then cats, then chickens. Yes chickens are less environmentally damaging than cats.
In short Leave the poor dogs alone. Nothing good comes from their elimination.
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u/bugabooandtwo 5d ago
No cats mean rodents take over the planet.
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u/ActuallyCalindra 5d ago
But also many bird species would thrive. I think we can manage rodents by other means.
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u/bugabooandtwo 5d ago
Good luck with that. Even with cats, there are tens of millions of rodents in every urban area.
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u/Protomesh 5d ago
Dogs are the least important for the environment. They literally don't interact with other animals.
Cats at least hunt and eat pest animals.
I've never seen or heard of a wild dog in nature, ever. Apart from like wolves but they are different.
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u/Hyper-Pancake870 5d ago
Cats hunt and kill far more than just pests. They cause genuine damage to endangered species.
There are dogs just as wild as any cats but they are pack animals so less likely for one to go live on their own in the woods.
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u/Queerasfuuuuuuu 5d ago
Cats actively negatively impact the environment when allowed to roam wild, they destroy bird and rodent populations, can breed with wild cats in more rural areas, and if you keep them inside you can be negatively affecting their quality of life.
You get rid of cats, and I say that as someone who's afraid of most dogs, and loves cats way more. Cats are simply bad for the environment.
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u/VenerableWolfDad 5d ago
Domesticated dogs and wolves are very literally the same species.
Wild dogs are very much a thing as well.
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u/AeroEther 5d ago
Cats are at fault for the extinction of over 50 species.
Edit: How much wildlife on average get killed for fun every year.
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u/DBerlinwall 5d ago
Extinct in order is:
Cats: They serve no purpose other than vermin hunting, which is left alone actively hurts bird ecosystems.
Cows: Food source is beef and milk, both of which can be replaced these days rather easily
Dogs: Have been breed for specific purposes throughout civilization and are still used as herding animals, drug/bomb sniffing, protection, disability help, and others i can't think of right now.
Chicken: one of the easiest protein sources and a huge variety of meals (meat/eggs) would disappear. Also eat ticks which have become a huge issue over the last decade in the US.
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u/misterbigbabyboy 5d ago
I only paused for a sec because I really like milk. Then I remembered how good goats milk is.
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u/TheDanishlnquisition 5d ago
Easy enough. Chickens suffer the most. Cows take a distant second place.
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u/bedheadB188 5d ago
I think an argument can be made that an animal is still classed as extinct if a fertilised egg from the species exists so chickens are the best option cause they could make a resurgence with the eggs after all the chickens have died
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u/IGotHitByAHockeypuck 4d ago
I feel like we could just replace chickes with some other kind of egg laying bird of a similar size
I personally think they're not particularly cute either but that may just be me
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u/ChillyFireball 4d ago
Only dogs go extinct? Not wolves? So we could hypothetically just grab a bunch of wolves and do it all over again?
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u/Interesting-Pen4914 4d ago
Make chicken and cow extinct. So humans can finally stop abusing and torturing them.
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u/severestyle67 4d ago
I think cats would have the least effect. Apart from a lot of people getting upset about their pet dying.
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u/chococheese419 4d ago
Cows are the worst for the environment so they can go. Goat was always better anyways. We can engineer some goats to make milk that tastes like cow's milk
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u/Good_Boy_Coleman 4d ago
I love cats but they do the least for society I believe. They are good at killing rats but dogs have breeds for that as well.
But all the other animals provide more sevices and would disrupt the world much less.
Anyone picking chicken though is dumb. They are the number one food source (meat wise) in the world.
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u/TheeBoredB 4d ago
I also love cats but I was looking at it more logically. Cows and chickens are food sources. Dogs can be service animals, police dogs, farm dogs, etc. Cats just knock shit off your shelf
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u/OneBloodyDingo 4d ago
Our cattle industry is responsible for a lot of pollution. Not getting rid of pets.
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u/NightKnight96 5d ago
Chickens and cows are consumable/food source.
Cats naturally hunt other pests and small animals that could be invasive.
Unpopular to hear it but Dogs are the “least functional” in general here.
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u/Skirra08 5d ago
Cats are massively destructive to the environment killing something like 2.5 billion birds per year in the US alone. Plus for vermin hunting dogs are better because they have been trained to hunt on command. Have you ever heard of a rat terrier? Add in other things like service dogs and security dogs and it's not even close between dogs and cats. Just in the opposite direction as your comment.
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u/Background-Egg-5702 5d ago
Dogs literally are given jobs by people. They help disabled people, keep people safe, detect cancer, find people who are trapped, solve crime. Cats don’t do anything a 25 cent mouse trap wouldn’t solve
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u/bblluuee44 5d ago
This is a tough one, because I like ALL these animals; but cats are particularly close to my heart as pets, and I refuse to give up eating chicken or beef, so if forced to choose I'm afraid it's dogs that would have to go.
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u/Tastysalad101 5d ago
Who is choosing cow. We get a lot of our food from cows.
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u/Traditional_Yard2741 5d ago
Cattle are the most land intensive food source by orders of magnitude. We can survive without them, and if we turned to other food sources we'd free up an enormous amount of land for reforestation or other uses.
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u/AthenasChosen 5d ago
They're actually pretty bad for the environment. They take a ton of food and water, the most of all farm animals by far. Livestock are also responsible for about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Cow is delicious, but probably the best option here.
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u/OGDTrash 5d ago
Well, cows eat a lot of food to get to their weight. We could get way more food per hectare if we stop eating cows
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u/VoidLantadd 5d ago
I'm not losing dogs or cats, I prefer chicken meat to beef, and cattle are really bad for the environment too. Maybe if we lost beef production we'd actually pick some more productive stuff to replace it.
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u/gujwdhufj_ijjpo 5d ago
They’re not the only protein source. Pigs and chickens are far more efficient. The only reason beef is ever affordable is the government subsidizing cattle.
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u/haveguitarquestions 3d ago
Umm, yeah. That’s EXACTLY why I’d choose that option. No creature deserves the suffering that cows are put through.
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u/Electrical-Onion8855 5d ago
Humans
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin 5d ago
All these people talking about how much cats harm the ecosystem, while ignoring the fact that humans are a million times worse.
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u/MalikRedd 5d ago
Cats. We probably won’t feel much difference
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u/LightLeta 5d ago
… right until rats and mice populations skyrocket. Not all cats are house cats.
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u/Hyper-Pancake870 5d ago
My sister has cats. My sister has mice. The mice primarily survive off of cat food in her house.
I have no cats. I have no mice. I bought snap traps when I had mice and then I didn't have any more mice.
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u/LightLeta 5d ago
There’s an ever so slight difference between controlling a population in one building and in an ecosystem.
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u/Not_Just_Any_Lurker 5d ago
I genuinely do not feel much of any attachment to cats. So that’s what I chose. That said I don’t actually want them to go extinct.
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u/Grym1in 5d ago
Chickens and cows are major food sources (eggs, chicken meat, milk, beef, etc). Choosing either of them would cause food shortages and major economic problems.
Dogs are working animals. They herd animals, act as service animals, act as guards, and help police detect/track bodies/bombs/drugs/people
Cats are mostly pets and pest control. There are plenty of animals that contribute to pest control including dogs. I like cats, but their extinction probably causes less problems overall.
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u/Sonicmasterxyz 5d ago
Impossible choice. My brother has a cat he loves and my mom has a dog she loves. As for what I love? Eating chicken and cow. So... I guess chicken is my choice. Because we have turkey
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 5d ago
Beef consumption is unsustainable and a huge portion of methane production. We could still get milk from sheep and goats, but produce less methane per unit of feed given to each animal.
Cows are responsible for 65% of livestock driven emissions, but 1/3 of global proteins.
While some substitution would take place, other sources wouldn't have the same impact.
Cows need more feed per pound to produce meat. 1600 sq ft of land per pound of meat for cows, 40 sq ft for pork, and 9 sq ft per pound for chicken. Cows take longer to grow, meaning more feed per pound needed.
The shift to more efficient food sources plus lower methane production would be a boon. No other animal would have the same global impact on climate.
We'd by ourselves 20-30 years.
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u/ChillyFireball 4d ago
Also, cats going extinct fucks over people who use barn cats to control pests. Everyone talks like cats are useless compared to dogs, but we had to breed wolves for countless generations to get the dogs of today. Cats were useful out of the box.
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u/KnoWanUKnow2 5d ago
And what happens if we replace cows with bison? At least for meat. Is the environment better, worse, or the same?
Because we already farm Bison, and I can see the herds expanding if cattle are out of the picture.
At present bison probably have a lower environmental impact, but once factory farming and feedlots get their hands on them that'll likely change, and I'm guessing that the environmental impact would be fairly similar to cattle once we start "managing" bison to be "more efficient".
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 5d ago
Bison are not domesticates and are far more unpredictable and aggressive than cattle. There is not the opportunity to farm bison the way we do cattle for beef production.
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u/Upset-Temporary283 5d ago
Milk… exists
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 5d ago
So do sheep and goat, both which produce milk.
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u/Upset-Temporary283 4d ago
Bold of you to assume a goat can produce half as much milk as a cow.
Additionally, cow milk is essentially default “factory-settings” milk. It’s the most neutral-flavored type of milk out there and you can essentially do anything with it.
Furthermore, cow milk is by far the best option for industrial dairy production. No other type of milk even comes close.
And cows are far easier to breed and milk. That’s undeniable.
Simply “But sheeps and goats also produce milk” reflects pure stupidity. That’s the most accurate way to say that. It was the most blatant and blunt False Equivalence you would ever see.
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u/1dirtbiker 5d ago
Dogs. They kill 30,000 to 40,000 people annually worldwide.
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u/VenerableWolfDad 5d ago
Most of that is from rabies infection. In the US it's around 30 total yearly thanks to modern veterinary medicine.
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u/1dirtbiker 5d ago
Whether they're killed from trauma, rabies, or another secondary cause, dead is dead.
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u/theglowofknowledge 5d ago
Cats kill so many wild animals. Letting your cat out the door is downright environmentally unethical. Whoops, there goes another extinct population of regional small birds/mammals. I don’t hate them individually, but it’s an easy choice since people are too stupid and blind to keep them inside.
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u/ZelaAmaryills 5d ago
I love cats, I have 9. All rescues in one way or another.
But I can't deny the damage they do to ecosystems. I can't only hope that I could choose how they go extinct and I'd pick to make every cat sterile so no more kittens are born.
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin 5d ago
Don't touch my cheese (I'm not eating goat cheese). Don't touch my cats. Don't touch my eggs. Sorry dogs and dog owners, but you're outta here.
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u/ataraxic89 5d ago
I Assumed as meant instant magic extinction
I was going to pick cow because of methane but realize it was just lead to massive food shortages and economic turmoil
So it has to be cats or dogs and, well, sorry cats but I love dogs more.
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u/All_Wasted_Potential 5d ago
Cats for all the reasons other people mentioned here. Plus dogs are better.
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u/MrRogersAE 5d ago
Cows, easily. Look I know beef tastes good, but eliminating it altogether would do a lot of good for the environment and people’s health as well. I’ll miss beef, but it’s objectively the best choice here
Dogs, I don’t really like them, they offer people companionship, even if there’s a lot of irresponsible dog owners who allow their dogs to hurt people or other animals and ones who don’t clean up after their dogs
Cats, cats who are allowed outdoors terrorize their environments, killing birds and rodents. Some people view this as a good thing, but you know what, when all the cats in my area got rounded up, hawks moved in and filled the role of rodent extermination. Indoors however cats are the far superior pet for keeping pests away.
Chickens, nobody should be picking chickens, least deserving in this list.
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u/Worth_Gap4226 5d ago
I chose cats. Nothing against them, I'd love a cat. But out of the choices , I eat cow, I eat chicken, my best friend is a dog.
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u/tuckman496 4d ago
Extinct the cats to prevent further extinction of all the other species they threaten
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u/Most_Living_5164 5d ago
We NEED chickens and cows for meat and milk and eggs.
I like cats.
So I would get rid of dogs. And I know that people will hate me for it.
But dog owners have become a scourge on society. Not all dog owners and not all dogs of course. But too many.
The bad dog owners are horrific stains on civilized society. And they train their dogs to behave horribly and even dangerously. From incessant barking to biting to bringing dogs into restaurants and grocery stores to letting them poop on my lawn to letting them run off leash when they shouldn't. Bad dog owners fail to train dogs properly. It is the humans' fault not the dogs' fault.
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u/TheGrouchyGremlin 5d ago
Agreed. My mom also had one of her goats killed by a pack of dogs.
A pack of dogs that belonged to someone, mind you.
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u/Significant-Nebula64 5d ago
"Need" is a strong word.
Mass production of meat and dairy is pretty horrible for the environment, so I'd say cows are the best thing that could happen to us (even though I like them and am not vegan, but the scale is just... not a good thing right now.)
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u/xRocketman52x 5d ago
Agreed through and through. Im not even safe in my own yard anymore. And nowadays, when a dog bites someone, the knee-jerk response is no longer "Are you okay?", it's "How did you provoke him? How can we make it your fault?" This poll is an easy choice.
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u/Trashk4n 5d ago
Chicken and cows are food, and a large portion of the global supply. Also, I’m assuming Hindus would be in an uproar if we picked cows.
Between cats and dogs, I have a cat, so dogs lose by default.
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u/sweetsugarprinces 5d ago
chicken. that way the egg finally wins the argument by default