The vegan perspective is less "meat is bad" and closer to "compassion for a creature and its rights to exist freely within its own context". A killer whale should be able to nom as many seals as it wants, a dog can have some raw meat to chew on.
However, paying for animals to be killed to feed your dog instead of buying vegan dog food seems like it falls under the same umbrella as buying meat for yourself.
[Not really sure how to address obligate carnivores, like cats. Could see a vegan feeding their cat they had meat foods until they died naturally, but getting a cat with the intention of buying meat for it over its lifetime seems non-vegan.]
Would welcome correction if I'm misguided, though.
I can't ethically feed my pet, therefore owning a pet is unethical.
I love dogs, clumsy waggy little fuckers, but I won't subject another being to my fuckery just because I can.
edit: And yes, I teeter-totter on the ol' "you should adopt an abandoned pet" vs "feeding it for the rest of its life means other animals will die" vs "but you eat meat too you sanctimonious fuck" every time I think about the subject. At the end of the day, easier just to say "no pets" and move on with life for me.
...though I also understand the "no pets" and moving on attitude from a more personal angle. I've accidentally killed enough houseplants to scare me away from the "caring for a dependent living being" plan for now
Edit: just wanted to note that "people who got the memo but didn't read it" is now one of my favorite phrases. I've never heard it before, but something about it delights me
Having said that, I do find myself always playing devil's advocate with myself: "But how can your conscience be clear when millions of abandoned pets are being put to sleep in animal shelters? So it's everyone else's job to deal with that is it? You would deny your children the joy of owning a cute little doggo woggo?" and to that nascent neurofractal I say, get in line, the CBT will get to you eventually.
So I dunno, I don't want to come across as being down on people who've made a decision to own pets, it's possible to overthink things and underthink things. I know many pet owners and the vast majority are kind and caring. I think it comes with the territory. Some have been more domineering and lord over their creatures like a ruthless dictator and I think that says a lot about a person, but I digress...
I pretty much agree with everything you just said, and I pretty much kill every plant I touch as well. Brown thumb gang!