A commonly heard cry from some non-vegans as to the supposed flaws in veganism is based on…teeth-shape. Of course.
The logic goes like this:
“My canine teeth (which are slightly pointy and not at all deadly) and are shared with a whole range of carnivorous animals with similar canines (which are of course incredibly pointy and down-right lethal). Therefore, I am justified in eating this bacon sandwich.”
This is a fascinating concept because we as humans also have the points of tails at the bottom of our spines, yet we rarely hear non-vegans referencing that while swinging through the trees like orangutans.
Canine teeth are called that because of their slightly pointy look. As opposed to being nine-inch long incisors like a sabre-tooth tiger. If any of your non-vegan friends do have such a deadly dental arrangement, they really need to see their dentist. And check in with the Guinness Book of Records.
The “humans have canines therefore we should eat meat” is a complete fallacy. In no other way do we define our ethics and day-to-day conduct with reference to body-part shapes:
“I’d love to join you for drinks after work but my opposable thumbs mean that I have to spend the night in shaping a flint-headed axe.”
The non-vegan claim that human “canine” teeth are meant to justify eating meat is just as valid as the claim that eating meat is somehow “natural.” The sort of natural that needs to see it cooked, seasoned, shaped and given a user-friendly name. And a slaughter-house is possibly the least natural of all places when it comes to a source of food.
So, the next time you hear the non-vegan refrain of canine teeth means roast beef all round, ask them what other parts of their body define their morality. Or whether they’ve been swinging in the trees today. You know, something that they can really chew over.
