Animal Rights, Meet Miss Manners

I think this issue is always, *always* going to unite some people and divide others. And indeed, that's largely because it's not just one issue. Each advocate has their own realm of things that they are passionate about, things they're willing to fight for (and I do mean by way of peaceful protest). Some feel strongly about puppy mills, some feel strongly about factory farming or hunting or the fur industry, and so on.

The animal welfare field is one that continues to fascinate me, because there are so many polarizing issues within the greater issue. Two animal advocates might stand side by side at a protest against circuses, but one of them might be a dog breeder - a profession that is largely abhorred in animal welfare due to pet over-population issues. The overall concept is "we care about animals", but what defines out levels of involvement and our beliefs are often very different.

Interestingly, I wrote an open letter to the animal welfare community, shortly after an alleged animal abuser was assaulted in Didsbury, Canada during the court proceedings surrounding a particularly horrific case of animal cruelty. The letter had similar sentiments to Mr. Pacelle, and although 98% of the respondents supported my sentiments wholeheartedly, I got berated pretty badly from the ones that did not see things from my point of view.

For this particular issue, I think the best analogy is the dynamic of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey: both incredible women whose passion and compassion for their respective primates reached across the globe. Dian shot poachers. Jane hired them. Dian was murdered, and Jane is still traveling the globe, developing new programs to help people and animals, and helping to guide the next generation of earth stewards. That may seem like an over-simplification, but I think it makes the point well. Jane saw, even back then, that poachers weren't poaching because they hated animals - they were poaching so they could feed their families. She gave them a new way to make a living, and saved animals.

She then took it a step further and helped introduce planned parenthood into parts of Africa - so women learned they didn't have to have 12 children - they could have 2, and be able to afford to feed them and send them to school. So now a man didn't have to resort to illegal poaching to keep his family alive. Animals were saved, and the lives of countless people were improved dramatically - indeed, human lives were saved. Animal issues, environmental issues and human issues are all intertwined, and we can't forget about the humans when we're trying to help the animals. They are all pieces of a much larger puzzle and you can't effectively deal with one without at least acknowledging the others.

By seeing animal issues as a human issue as well, we'll get a lot farther in improving the lives of animals. I think that's all he's trying to say.

(http://www.pet-abuse.com)

Sent by Alison Gianotto | 2:13 PM | 11-6-2007

What people tend to forget it is that animals are property. What a person does with their property on their on land or in their own home is their own business.
The problem some people have with animal activists is it will never be enough for the extreme crowd until we can hunt,fish,own or eat animals. They want to give more human rights to animals then animals themselves give each other.

Sent by Bryan Longford | 9:29 AM | 6-17-2008

Actually I'm an animal welfare advocate, and I haven't forgotten that animals are property in the eyes of the law. Furthermore, I don't want to give human rights to animals.

If you have a position please state it, rather than mischaracterizing mine.

Sent by Michael | 12:30 AM | 6-18-2008

Quibbling about whether animal have rights or don't is nothing but hair-splitting. Animals by definition cannot enforce their rights, if any, just like a human child or retarded person can't.

So do they have rights? Does a child or a retarded individual?

Beyond that, there is a growing recognition that humans do have an obligation not to abuse animals and, while they are classified as property, they cannot be treated like lifeless objects. Mankind's thinking has evolved this way and we're a bit less brutal than our forebears.

Sent by B. Dayre | 12:48 PM | 6-18-2008