Food choices are determined by many factors, but reason (even consciousness) is not generally high on the list.
If we were to one day encounter a form of life more powerful and intelligent than our own, and it regarded us as we regard fish, what would be our argument against being eaten?
It's always possible to wake someone from sleep, but no amount of noise will wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.
We live in a world in which it's conventional to treat an animal like a hunk of wood and extreme to treat an animal like an animal.
What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
How do I know that I know this except that I have always been taught this and never heard anything else?
For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver