Hunting was another issue entirely. People hunted entire species of animals to extinction, even after it was declared illegal to hunt them, in their superstitious beliefs about the health benefits various body parts. Some hunters would take the meat, others would only take the parts that were worth money. Sometimes they'd mangle them, take what they wanted, and leave the defenseless animal alive and unable to recover.

People grew animals on farms, but that just lead to the conditions mentioned. When those conditions became illegal, farmers did them anyway and just kept things secret. Eventually, synthetic meat or meat alternatives like tofu and enhanced proteins came out and we could get the dietary benefits of meat without torturing or killing any animals at all.