And emotions and suffering? Is there any indication?

I don’t know (aside from making sounds and other indications that you surely also know).

So by what right do you eat them?

I actually don’t eat them, although I do consume milk and eggs (organic, from special farming). There is an intuition that animals do not have rights like human beings, even if they have some level of free will (it’s doubtful that they do). I assume this is a residue left over from the halakhic view, and maybe it will change in the future.

Why shouldn’t animals have rights??

And the Rabbi doesn’t eat them because of the suffering, right?

Israel, I explained that there is such an intuition because they are inferior to us (even if they have choice at some low level. And certainly if they don’t have it). What further explanation are you expecting?
Indeed, I don’t eat them because of the suffering. That’s why I added that it’s not because of rights (although I also don’t rule that out categorically).

I don’t understand. They’re inferior to us and therefore it’s permitted to eat them?! Strange.

Israel, in light of what you’re writing here, I’m starting to think maybe not (that they are not inferior to us). 🙂
You asked why I think they don’t have rights, and I explained my view that they are inferior in intellect and choice (or that they either don’t have it, or have something very minimal). You asked whether, in my opinion, it is permitted to eat them, and I said no. You asked why, and I said mainly because of the suffering, but there is also room for someone who is careful not to eat them on principle.
And now you are wondering why, in my opinion, their inferiority permits eating them? (head-scratching icon)
Maybe my inferiority doesn’t allow me to understand the depth of your words, and then again I come to the conclusion that maybe I was wrong (about their inferiority relative to us).
In any case, in my great inferiority, I’m really surprised that the obvious question still hasn’t arrived: why not eat everyone who is inferior to me in some way—imbeciles, disabled people, just plain stupid people, and maybe also women, Gypsies, and more, each according to whatever racism suits him. Or perhaps that’s the next message we can expect from you?

In a “corrected” situation, would the Rabbi eat animals?
A question that is interesting both morally and from a halakhic standpoint (or maybe in this case they are connected to one another)

*Today* this joins that reason (suffering), and the conclusion is pretty clear.

The question is specifically about a corrected situation, and not like in industry.

A, I wrote that I definitely see the point of refraining even without considerations of suffering. What would I actually do in practice? I don’t know. Sometimes the uncorrected state awakens a sensitivity in you that would not have awakened without it, and now even if a corrected state returns, the sensitivity remains.