cruel and irresponsible

from wikipedia:
Livestock
Livestock and livestock-related activities such as deforestation and increasingly fuel-intensive farming practices are responsible for over 18% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, including:

9% of global carbon dioxide emissions
35-40% of global methane emissions (chiefly due to enteric fermentation and manure)
64% of global nitrous oxide emissions (chiefly due to fertilizer use.[29])
Livestock activities also contribute disproportionately to land-use effects, since crops such as corn and alfalfa are cultivated in order to feed the animals.

Worldwide, livestock production occupies 70% of all land used for agriculture, or 30% of the land surface of the Earth.