Well, I myself am a vegetarian, not a vegan, I do eat dairy and eggs, but I feel it is due to this ethnocentric attitude that our society has towards animals. I mean this is an opinion , but I just feel that people think animals were created so we could eat them, which is an insane thought. Without help from animals as cultures of the world evolved we would not be as advanced as we are. In so many words people are ignorant.

Humans throughout history have domesticated animals for various purposes, some were kept for food (chickens, cows, pigs) while others were domesticated to help protect us in exchange for food and shelter (dogs). Some animals were kept as pest control (cats) while still others because of human qualities we project upon them (rabbits seen as cute) While you seem to be implying there is some kind of paradox in keeping one animal for food yet having another as a pet, that would require all animals to have the same relationship to human beings. Some animals (such as dogs) have evolved over time along with us to take advantage of the success of human beings as a species, while others have remained our needed source of protein. It has only recently become possible to completely avoid eating any animal products all together while still maintaing adequate nutrtion. So to answer you question, people do not seem to have a moral qualm with eating one animal while petting another. In fact, quite a few humans will sit down to a chicken dinner with the family dog. Humans are at heart omnivores, and from the biological standpoint there is nothing wrong with eating meat. While some people have moral or health reasons for sustaining from doing so, there is really nothing fundamentally wrong with having a pet and eating meat. Those of us who have pet fish take it one step further and even sometimes eat the same species we have at home as a pet! Simply put, it comes down to free choice.

Dogs aren't as tasty as cows.

in the past 33 years I have had more than 5,000 pets; currently I have 13 cats, 2 fish, and 200+ birds, I've had dogs, rabbits, horses, goats, ducks, geese, squirrels, eels, geese, parrots, pigeons, hens, roosters, coati, and just about everything else at some point. At one time I had 8 dogs all at the same time. (I run a rescue, btw, just me alone, taking in every animal that no one else wanted). In that time I have never eaten a single animal. I'm vegan.

Cause the law says I can't eat my dog. She looks so tasty too.

Actually, it's probably a good thing people can't analyze the 'meat' they eat at some restaurants.

Depending on ethnicity, people have various dietary needs. Inuits, for example, must eat meat: Thousands of years of adaptations have made their bodies most adapted to that form of nutrition and they would suffer greatly on a non meat diet. My wife for example, cannot get by without meat, usually poultry or fish. I do best with meals heavy in starches. It's no big deal for me to be a vegetarian because that's what my body likes best, but for other people it isn't necessarily so.