I would disagree with "Unnecessarily". Nature isn't fair, and nature doesn't care. There are omnivores and there are carnivores. That's how it works. Indeed things must die so that I continue to live, in much the same way that stars died so that we could even have a solar system.

My argument is about the minimization of cruelty. I would also argue that after death; there is no suffering but that's another argument.

The vegan / vegetarian alternative is to thrive on plants alone and that it prevents suffering in animals. Well, those plants are grown in fields where many animals are killed thanks to combines and the necessities of agriculture.

You cannot go through life without killing, it isn't possible. What we don't need is needless suffering.