14th April 2024 … talking about animals …
THIS WEEK’S DISCUSSION [number 9 in the series]
What does Animal Rights mean, in theory and in practice?
Suggested by Gerry Boland, founder of and spokesperson for Animals Behind Closed Doors, advocating for appropriate rights for animals and for a vegan lifestyle (087-6397557)
DISCUSSION POINTS
The question is not 'Can they reason?' nor,'Can they talk?' but rather, 'Can they suffer?'
Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher, 1748-1842
1
Advocates of animal rights believe that every animal deserves the right to live a life free from human control. Many who support animal rights also follow a vegan lifestyle, refraining from using or consuming animal products. A vegan lifestyle is the logical expression of an individual’s belief in animal rights.
2
The capacity to suffer and feel pleasure is a sufficient condition for asserting that a being has interests. At the bare minimum, its interest is not to suffer.” (Matthieu Ricard, A Plea for the Animals) Animal rights in practice means that animals deserve certain kinds of consideration: consideration of what is in their best interests and regardless of whether any human cares about them at all. It means recognizing that animals are not ours to use—for food, clothing, entertainment, transport, experimentation. A dog or a pig or a cow has an interest in not having pain inflicted on him or her unnecessarily. We are obliged to take that interest into consideration and to respect the animal’s right not to have pain inflicted upon him or her.
3
Many who support animal rights are essentially abolitionists, as they believe that all human use of animals should be abolished. While in its purest form, animal abolitionism would include the elimination of everything from keeping cattle for beef to keeping dogs and cats as pets, not every person who believes in animal rights would go as far as eliminating companion animals.
4
Animals don’t always have the same rights as humans, because their interests are not always the same as ours and some rights would be irrelevant to animals’ lives. Equally, an animal’s inability to understand and adhere to our rules is as irrelevant as a very young child’s inability to do so, or a person with a severe intellectual disability.
“Animal intelligence is not a human intelligence that is less evolved than that of humans, but simply a different intelligence.”
(Dominique Lestel – Les Animales de la Culture).
“Beneath the many differences, there is sameness. Like us, these animals embody the mystery and wonder of consciousness.” (Tom Regan, The Case for Animal Rights)
“The capacity for suffering, rather than intelligence, is the main factor that gives all animals the right to be considered as equal. This does not imply that all beings, human or nonhuman, must have the same rights in all matters. Sheep and calves, for example, have no need for the right to vote.” (Matthieu Ricard, A Plea for the Animals)
5
Speciesism is the human-held belief that all other animal species are inferior. Speciesist thinking involves considering animals—who have their own desires, needs, and complex lives—as means to human ends.
This line of reasoning is used to defend treating other living, feeling beings as property, objects, or even ingredients. Speciesism leads humans to draw non-existent distinctions between animal species, based solely on the purpose that those animals might serve. For example, most humans wouldn’t dream of treating their dog the way pigs are treated in the food industry, even though pigs are able to experience the same pain, joy, fear, and misery that canines do. It’s speciesist to believe that farmed and captive animals don’t suffer or feel emotions to the same extent as the animals with whom we lovingly share our homes.
Some examples of animal rights violations
Breeding animals so we can kill them and eat them;
Impregnating them so we can take their babies’ milk;
Forcing them into a circus ring or into a cage at a zoo;
Breeding and selling them as pets, for monetary gain;
Forcing them to race;
Beating them to make them do what we want;
Rubbing chemicals into their eyes in laboratories;
Shooting or hunting them;
Plucking out their feathers to fill duvets or jackets;
Keeping them in a cage in our living room.
And finally …
Our relationship with animals is based entirely on their subjugation and our dominance. This unequal relationship stems from the historical ideology, enshrined by many religions, that might is right, that it is acceptable for the stronger to bully and abuse the weaker simply because they can. The animal rights philosophy rejects this widely held belief and instead believes in the fundamental right of nonhumans not to be used owned, branded, labelled, enslaved, exploited and generally commodified to serve our interests and convenience.
ANIMAL SENTIENCE – All farmed animals are sentient, that is, they experience a wide range of emotions and can feel pain, just like us. We know this, and yet we turn a blind eye. We can do
better.
We must do better.
I am happy to discuss this issue on air, also more than willing to debate with an industry representative.
Gerry Boland
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