Eating meat is a nightmare for the environment. The meat industry is the largest consumer of fresh water and natural resources. Untreated sewage from factory farms seeps into our groundwater and pollutes our rivers and streams. Meat consumption is killing humans, too. So, yes, I do feel that it is ethically right, and in our own best interest, to choose a healthy vegan diet.
Most humans do have empathy for the suffering of at least some animals.
We wouldn't open our homes to them in such great numbers if we did not. But we humans can be a very selective lot, depending on how we have been taught to view other animals. We wouldn't eat dogs in this country, for example, but in many Asian countries that is a standard practice. Once you begin to see that every species can be as remarkable as a beloved feline companion, it becomes more difficult to marginalize and abuse them. The rat that some see as a pest is a companion to another, and to still another, a rat is little more than a test tube with a tail.