This is a false dichotomy. It is common to care about the animals you eat. Maybe not in the way you would like, and maybe it is hypocritical in the same way as giving a condemned prisoner a final meal is. Caring is why we have free range animal products.

But for the sake of completeness, let's discuss vegetarians specifically. I don't know where you got the 98% number for meat-eaters, but it's not correct.

Worldwide stats: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country#Demog... US stats: https://news.gallup.com/poll/267074/percentage-americans-veg...

Most vegetarians give up food for ethical and animal rights reasons (I'll leave the easy to find sources as an exercise for the reader).

Vegetarians and vegans are frequently reminded of animal suffering -- a visit to the grocery store or a look at a restaurant menu is all it takes. So in effect you've reduced to "no one" a 5% slice of the population (in the U.S.) which repeats the same principled decision on a daily basis. That's a lot of people to call "no one".