this argument stinks. chickens had nothing to do with bird flu. "all these" mad cow disease (actually prion disease) affected a total of 232 people world-wide (and can be avoided anyway by not eating parts of an animals brain or spine)... Also, swine flu did not require you to eat pork to get it...

then, no one is saying it is all or nothing, and hopefully distorting the argument into something so extreme and absurd isn't your best defense for eating cute little guinea pigs, much less cats and dogs.

anyway, the obvious that you might be purposely avoiding and which I just hinted at is one which is particularly sensitive in the west due to cultural reasons: there are some animals we have designated as "pets" or "friends of humans" where the idea of consuming them as food would be basically as unconscionable as eating a human (dogs and cats especially). Its not just because we think they are cute and humanize them either, those animals have been essential contributors to the survival of the human race in far more important ways than mere food sources since before history was even recorded, as protectors, companions, sentrys, pest control (and therefore disease control), etc, etc. There is a TRUST that exists between our species that is considered sacred. We choose to honor them for that, and do our best to hold up our end of the bargain (ie not eat/prey on them).

There are also just animals which we consider filthy, some for good reason, such as rats or pigeons or bottom feeding fish like carp. outside of a situation involving extreme poverty and famine the likes of which has been almost unheard of in the west for centuries, no one would ever consider those creatures as anything but vectors for toxins and disease.

A guinea pig is a cute animal that many keep as pets. So any revulsion is most likely cultural (though obv not on the level as for cats and dogs, not even close). They also do look like rats once you remove their fur, which doesn't help anything. Trying to make that perspective into a treatise against all animal meat consumption is really beyond logic.