[quote=mdk]Does it matter how domination came to be? Humans dominate the globe. It's ours. We'll do with it as we please; we'll be nice to animals when it's convenient (that's why we're all about saving the spotted owls, and care less for all those endangered fungi), and we'll eat them when we're hungry. Facts of life. If the only counter-argument is 'food will taste bad if you're mean to your food,' that only reinforces this point.It's not true, btw. 'Kobe beef' is a marketing myth; cows don't taste better when they're slaughtered happy. They're machines which convert grass into protein, and we're machines that convert protein into poop. Apply feelings to the process in whatever manner best suits your ideology, then cook to medium-rare and enjoy.[/quote]

It wasn't a "Food will taste bad" argument, it was a "Diseases and spread and food can be far less healthy" argument.

Also, as human's it's important we remain conscious of our environment. Even if something may not help us directly it may benefit the environment and ecosystem. So by helping it survive/keep going we are benefiting from a better environment. This also goes in reverse though as Brovo highlighted, if we simply let things like deer's run rampant they'd over populate and ruin everything, so hunting them (to a limit) benefits both us and the environment. It's a balancing act, one that humanity is best off taking note in better understand and not simply going for the result that gives immediate satisfaction.