Ethical Slaughter?

I have always been of the mind that there’s no such thing as ethical slaughter. Being a vegetarian and on-and-off vegan for the past 6 years, my philosophy concerning animals and the consumption of meat has been refined by massive amounts of research, moral challenges from family members, and a religious conversion. All of these things have led me to be of the mindset that it is unethical to kill and eat animals so long as a person can survive without doing so (this is a key element, there must be exceptions for those who consume animal flesh for survival.) However, meeting with David Klines on Monday has challenged my perspective. Here I met an individual who does not keep animals; he cares for them and tends to their needs. He talked at length about how every animal has a name, every animal’s personality is recognized, and when they pass he mourns for them, even if they end up on his dinner plate. David Klines introduced an aspect of farming that had never occurred in any of my research; love and empathy for the animals he works with.
This revelation has not made any drastic changes in my philosophy yet, but has made me begin to think. If I were to have a meal with David Klines prepared by his wife and made with the things only produced on the farm, I still do not think I myself would eat the meat, but I do think I would be entirely comfortable, accepting, and perhaps even appreciative of everyone else at the table who did. Have I discovered a form of humane slaughter, something I previously thought was an entirely contradictory statement in and of itself? I’m not sure, but it has opened my viewpoint to consider an entire group of people who often go unrecognized in this context because they are so overshadowed by the industrial farms of our modern day; the small, family- oriented, organic farmers such as Klines.
While I have always been an advocate for the revival of small farms and the destruction of industrial ones, with it coming the restructuring of government agricultural subsidies, I had always regarded this topic in the context of specialty crops (fruits and vegetables) and never in the context of animal products. My interaction with Klines on his farm has definitely given me food for thought.