Exactly how conscious do you expect an animal to be following the step where a bolt is blasted into their skull to destroy their cerebrum? They are 'alive' from

Exactly how conscious do you expect an animal to be following the step where a bolt is blasted into their skull to destroy their cerebrum? They are 'alive' from then only insofar as their brain stem is still intact. Practices do vary, but this is the most common way of slaughtering sheep and cattle. You would consider any human so damaged to be essentially dead, and this 'stunning' process takes seconds. The consideration of abuse should focus on the rest of the animal's life. Regarding your second point, the issue we have with the slaughter of dogs is cultural, and has to do with how dogs are integrated into our society. It's not how intelligent we think they are, it's how we percieve them as members of the family. If pigs were the household pets of our time, they'd be perceived the same way, and the same applies to less intelligent creatures. It's a simple fact that we care for things which are close to us more than others, be this humans or other animals.