I don't understand taking not eating animals to the extreme, I went to Seaworld when I was younger, but then I watched a documentary about killer whales in captivity and I would never go again

My grandfather kept birds in an aviary and even when I was little I thought it was cruel to deprive birds of flight

I don't like the idea of animals being treated poorly, but I can't get my head around not eating animals

I'd have to deny that I'm an animal myself, that I'm higher up the food chain than a cow, and then convince myself that protein and iron are bad for me (when it comes from meat, obviously not in general) and then blame/judge myself for doing something natural and making myself ill, unless I only ate vegetables and then ate supplements

At uni I'd usually eat the vegetarian option because it was an easier way to get veg in my diet, I usually eat a vegetarian breakfast but 99% of the time I'll eat meat for dinner and I think that's a healthy balance and feel that it combats some of the environmental issues of raising tons of livestock, enough for my own conscience at least

If I went to the jungle and a jaguar killed me, should the jaguar be judged? Why is it not ok for a human animal to eat the jaguar? Lots of things I don't understand about veganism, but heyho it doesn't hurt anyone so good for you guys