I can see many valid arguments for being a vegetarian, but I am not one. I can swat flies with not a twinge of conscience, but I do not like the idea of bears riding bicycles or jumping through hoops of fire.
Humans vary in their attitudes to other species.
This suggests that we consumers care about non-human animals, even to the extent of paying real money for their welfare. Animals do not have rights, maybe they ought to have. Many people believe that testing consumer products on animals is unacceptable but do not feel the same way about eating meat. The comparison is being made, probably unconsciously, between a humane death and some form of torture. If I would prefer a quick, painless and unexpected death to a long period of suffering It seems proper that I should grant non humans the same.