All animals in nature, even us, die either of predation, accident, parasites or disease eventually, none being a particularly gentle way to cash it in. I see no moral objection to consuming animal products, providing the killing is humane, the product is used efficiently so as to make the mortality as limited as possible, and the harvest is managed in such a way as to protect the species and its environment. It is for this reason I have stopped sportfishing, an activity I highly enjoy, unless I plan to eat my catch. Even catch-and-release techniques return injured and stressed animals to their environment and contribute to unnecessary losses. And nature, after all, made us predators.

I suspect the ferocity of the animal rights groups is not motivated so much by the thought that some animals are being hurt, as it is by someone enjoying it. It is result of our Puritan forebears, some people just can't stand to see anyone else having a good time.