Is eating animals natural and right? IMO probably not, and certainly not for me personally. (Although I recently dated a guy who is allergic to beans and had to chuckle at the irony of that.)
Is it necessary? Not at all to the extent that it's done.
Do one's eating habits depend simply on the value they attribute to other lifeforms? Abso-fucking-lutely.
It is all about values. People eat meat because they like it and they value their desire for over the life of the animal. That's pretty much the conclusion that
this thread came to.