I think you are maybe confusing vegetarians with vegans. To my mind the former is purely a diet-based thing, e.g. one could be a vegetarian and even go elephant hunting (assuming one was a totally psychopathic arsehole) as long as you didn’t eat the thing. Vegans have a far more considered mindset and will do nothing that hurts an animal. I don’t think I could ever be a vegan, though I respect the idea hugely.
As I mentioned upthread I am a veggie primarily due to an utter repulsion towards meat as a food, though I do still to this day have/use some leather products. I realise I should improve this aspect and I think I’ll make a decision to buy no more.
There are loads of areas where one can easily be tricked too as meat products are in just about everything, e.g. I like a nice bottle of wine, and there are animal byproducts used in that process. Same with things like mints, sweets etc. Dairy products are dodgy too, e.g. cheese contains some vile animal products way beyond milk, and I really like cheese! Medicine is the same as there is gelatine or whatever in many pills. With society’s current attitudes, which are thankfully changing, it is very hard to avoid it entirely even with the best will. I’ve come to accept that.
