From what I know Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian thus we can not state that being a vegan or a vegetarian makes you "a Gandhi". I've been a vegetarian for five years and I used to think pretty much the same way about hunters. I'm not talking about culling because I don't know anything about it. I am a fisherman though but for years I am doing it only as a sport which means that all I catch goes back into the water and continues its life as before eating my hook. Some die after the drill and I'm sorry for that but it's my passion...
I became a vegetarian though from the same reason that you talked about in your post: cruelty against animals. I saw some videos of pigs and cattle and what lives they live until being slaughtered and the way things are done and decided to stop eating meat. I am eating meat again for about six years and if I become a vegetarian again it would be the same reason. I totally get the point of the post and people like the ones you describe are the ones over protective with dogs and cats as well. They would die for them but they eat meat every day. How is different a lamb or a pig's suffering from a dog's or a cat's. They both suffer as well as us, of course. We are biased unfortunately towards pets and somehow consider them as family while meat, bought from the supermarket as you mentioned, comes well packed and you don't get to see the suffering of the being you are eating. It's difficult to discuss such topics and I avoid as much as possible but very often when I see people talking the cruelty against animals, especially pets, I end the discussion in pretty much the same manner:

Me: Hmm, do you eat meat?
Them: Yes.
Me: Shut the fuck up then.