Not surprisingly you've stimulated a lively discussion with this topic. As a fellow meat eater I appreciate you raising the issue, which I have thought about on a number of occasions.

I like to quote this guy when animal "rights" advocates or vegetarians claim my actions are repugnant to them:

"if you want to eat something has to die." - Ted Nugent

This is a basic fact of life, it's the food chain. However, lest you think I'm too arrogant in this attitude consider this hypothetical.

One day planet Earth is visited by extraterrestrials who think of us with as little regard as we think of mosquitos. Are they any less vile or immoral than we are? That seems like a rather hypocritical perspective as I see it, assuming you are willing to eat to stay alive, which is pretty obvious you are.

I must admit however my sympathy for all life has grown with my age, and I find myself sparing the life of insects and other lower species far more often than I once did. Whereas before I had zero regard for pests and other life if it was inconvenient, in my way or even if it just startled me. Now I'm less so, tho I still kill my share of them, but I am always aware that I'm ending that creature's existence.