it's true, when i lived in toronto i ate meat for about a year, not a lot and i was kinda forced into making the difficult decision as i was getting very ill fast due to the lack of alternatives and the lifestyle i was living. i was very conscious about this and started eating fish, chicken and prawns although over there they are called shrimp.
i must say that my health improved. when i returned to australia where vegetarian products are freely available i adjusted my body, i also occasionally felt i should be more flexible with my diet, especially if i had gone to someones home and they had prepared a dinner, i weighed up my obligation and decided it would be better to eat the meal than refuse on a stance of ideology. maybe this was wrong i can't really change this. 
as i became interested in a magickal process i knew i would have to undertake some challenging and radical procedures if i was to effectively get a result, and i knew an act of transgression would be the eating of animals, so i chose fish. i tasted fish and like it, it appeals to my physiological hardwiring, i can't claim to be vegan, i'd love to make that cross over but i can't functionally do it, i live on my own, i cook and work with carnivores, i have not got a proper kitchen to prepare vegan meals and i have leather boots, etc. 
plus i also feel that animals die in nature, they are reconstituted into the earth and absorbed as nutrients into plants, so we all eat meat by proxy. then there is the well documented evidence surrounding plants, they have pain receptors and consciousness, i mean some of my best friends are plants.
balancing up these points i have to negotiate my way in the world, adopt a balanced approach to everything, challenge my self and my own beliefs, be prepared to change, i'm not that interested in changing others but when i came across this 
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/stop-the-animal-holocaust-1.463332
i found myself in agreement with the vegan cause, we treat animals so badly, it's time to attempt some form of change, although i wear leather boots and use some products i will advocate the cause, this don't make me a hypocrite as far as i can see it just makes me aware of the suffering equated to my comfort or pleasure. in the same way eating chocolate contributes to the child slave trade, a level of perception is required into ones actions. i accept this.