What is the link between the moral status of animals and vegetarianism?

I think the link between animals' moral status and vegetarianism is quite strong. People
expressing views, which could be read as vegetarian, basically express their concern about
our current lifestyle that finally formed under late capitalism. This way of life encompasses
the full scope of excessive and irresponsible indulgences: rip off poverty-stricken countries,
exploit workers and curtail their social rights — just so the rich can live a bit better. Such
deontology deems animals as a part of their cash-flush life. Even if they don’t eat an animal,
they express their attitude towards home pets as inferior entities. But first and foremost, an
animal is a prime source of exploitation for these people.

Vegetarians are uprising against such attitudes towards animals, proposing new ethics. The
case for this ethics could be recapped in the following statement: instead of clinging to the
old ethics or trying to embellish it a bit (that will be the same old deontology, just in a new
facet), we should abstain from it, analyze and create the new one. New ethics would be
found in a postulate of mutual respect for human and animal rights. This renunciation of the
idea of eating animal meat is pivotal because it reflects human attitude towards subaltern
creatures, and if this exploitative structure will resume reproducing, it will as well continue
to affect our social and economic structure. Thus, according to the inner logic of
vegetarianism, our relation with animals presupposes the social order we are living in as a
coherent whole.

Considering animals as equal to us humans will eventually improve the ecological and
climate situation on Earth. To sum up, the idea of vegetarianism, pretty lighthearted at first
glance, de facto is a profound way to tinker with our moral compass, social structure, and
the planet for the better.