Animal Ethics

JULY 24, 2015

Forty years ago, the suggestion that nonhuman animals have moral rights—indeed, many of the same rights as human beings—would have been met with incredulous stares, if not outright ridicule. Fast forward to the present. Other results from this Gallup poll can be found here.

Morals 40

Morals 2015 Industry Protection 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 220

Dissection Birds Research Europe 220

Animal Person

MAY 10, 2009

In " 'Animal Rights:' Pernicious Nonsense for Both Law & Public Policy ," Massachusetts attorney and "sportsman" Richard Latimer is on the mark with some concepts, and way off with others. Now, I know you're saying: That's not what animal rights is. than with any genuine concern for species diversity or even animal welfare."

Animal Rights 100

Animal Rights Rights Broiler Chicken Animal 100

Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 23, 2009

I will conclude with some remarks about the rights of animals. When it is asked whether animals have rights, and whether human beings have duties to them, the question, I think, is partly moral and partly verbal. Let us consider the moral question first. Hominum causa omne ius constitutum.)

Animal Rights 40

Animal Rights Rights Animal Cruelty 40

Animal Ethics

JUNE 17, 2008

What the utilitarian who defends human carnivorousness must say, then, is something like this: that the amount of pleasure which humans derive per pound of animal flesh exceeds the amount of discomfort and pain per pound which are inflicted on the animals in the process, all things taken into account. Is this plausible?

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Morals Vegetarian Cooking Slaughter 40

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

The problem of the unjust use of farm animals is large, growing, historical, institutionalized, governmentally encouraged, and fundamentally unregulated at either the state or federal level. Farm animals are treated essentially as raw materials. Instead it aids industry boards that exist solely to sell animal products.

Farm Animal 40

Farm Animal Farmed Animals Farming Factory Farm 40

Animal Ethics

JUNE 7, 2016

In light of this horrible incident, is it right for the zoo to carry on a breeding program that subjects more animals to such unnatural lives? It is estimated that due to conflicts with humans, the bushmeat and body parts trade, disease and habitat destruction, large mammals in Africa may be extinct by the end of this century.

Los Angeles 40

Los Angeles Gorillas Zoos Non Human 40

Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

It is simply projustice, insisting only that the scope of justice be seen to include respect for the rights of animals. The animal rights movement is not for the faint of heart. How we change the dominant misconception of animals—indeed, whether we change it—is to a large extent a political question.

Animal Rights Movement 40

Animal Rights Movement Animal Rights Rights Los Angeles 40

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 30, 2012

The legal rights of nonhuman animals might first be achieved in any of three ways. For example, the Treaty of Amsterdam that came into force on May 1, 1999, formally acknowledged that nonhuman animals are “sentient beings” and not merely goods or agricultural products. Wise , “ The Evolution of Animal Law Since 1950 ,” chap.

Rights 40

Rights For Animals Legislation Laws 40

Animal Person

APRIL 26, 2009

Vamsee Juluri, Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco, takes me back to graduate school when he writes of the importance of the stories we tell ourselves in " Use Free Speech to Celebrate Animal Life, Not to Enjoy Their Suffering." They certainly depict cruelty to animals, right? What do you think?

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Cruelty Vivisection Open Rescue 100

Animal Ethics

JUNE 11, 2008

So far McCloskey is on solid ground, but one can quarrel with his denial that any animals but humans have interests. I should think that the trustee of funds willed to a dog or cat is more than a mere custodian of the animal he protects. The animal itself is the beneficiary of his dutiful services.

2004 40

2004 Animal Rights Rights Animal 40

Animal Ethics

MARCH 16, 2007

To inflict death or pain on animals for scientific or medical research is wrong morally, and ought to be prohibited. This follows from everything said in the text about the rights of animals. This does not mean that animals may never be deliberately harmed or become subjects of research. Animals cannot give consent.

Research 40

Research Medical Research Morals Animal 40

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

To the Editor: Re “ Animal, Vegetable, Miserable ,” by Gary Steiner (Op-Ed, Nov. In fact, a whole lot of semi-vegans can do much more for animals than the tiny number of people who are willing to give up all animal products and scrupulously read labels. Go vegan, go vegetarian, go humane or just eat less meat.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Vegan Vegetarian 40

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 14, 2009

I foresee a day, perhaps not far in the future, in which it is illegal to raise cows, pigs, and other animals for food. The ground for this will not be animal welfare, as you might expect, but environmentalism. The natural environment, unlike individual animals, is inanimate, unconscious, and insentient.

Meat 40

Meat Animal Welfare Vegetarian Protecting Animals 40

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 6, 2007

A column entitled "Ag Industry Threatened by Animal Rights" appeared in today's High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal [ HPMAJ ]. The column, which you can read here , is a call to arms to factory farmers to fight back against those individuals and organizations working to protect farm animals from the abuses inherent in factory farms.

Factory 40

Factory Factory Farm Factory Farming Gestation Crates 40

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 31, 2011

I’m tired of hearing people who enjoy killing justify it with specious moral platitudes. Animals suffer when killed. It is only the prejudice of our species that justifies culling the deer population while protecting our own. BRANIGAN President, Make Peace With Animals New Hope, Pa., MARIE BROWN Baldwin, N.Y.,

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Mountain Lions Deer 40

Animal Person

JUNE 8, 2009

You can buy some extra time by presoaking the animal in a basin of ice water.)" For Engber, who dispassionately describes procedures most of the time, the "advances" in the medical care of humans are all well worth what he and other vivisectionists do to dogs and other sentient nonhumans. It "guarantees humane treatment?"

Animal Welfare 100

Animal Welfare Monkeys Animal Welfare Act Vivisection 100

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

I think it is safe to say that yes, an intelligent animal is unhappy, even downright miserable, being confined to a crate two by seven feet for months on end. They’re about protecting a system that produces cheap food. They’re about protecting a system that produces cheap food. Farm Animal Welfare, ASPCA New York, Feb.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Gestation Crates Gestation 40

Animal Ethics

MARCH 21, 2007

To the Editor: I appreciate Nicolette Hahn Niman’s efforts in raising awareness about the conditions in which pigs are raised (“ Pig Out ,” Op-Ed, March 14), but I was struck by her comment that it is incumbent on us to ensure that animals have decent lives because we ask them to make the ultimate sacrifice for us. They don’t volunteer.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Pigs 2007 40

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 20, 2008

Ethical vegetarianism is the thesis that killing and eating animals is morally wrong whenever equally nutritious plant-based alternatives are available. Virtually everyone agrees that: (1) It is wrong to cause a conscious sentient animal to suffer for no good reason. Animal abuse is a crime in all fifty states, and rightly so.

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Meat Ethics Lacto-Ovo 40

Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

I suspect that many regular readers of Animal Ethics are already vegetarians. That's because those who read Animal Ethics with regularity know that there are many compelling reasons to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. I shall endeavor to protect and take care of all living creatures.

Lacto-Ovo 40

Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Vegan Veal 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

We’re all connected through email and listservs, and we all swap information and provide each other with moral support. But one in particular did not even involve contact with an animal. And don’t forget, I’m the one coming out of solitude and ready to rejoin humanity in March of 2020. The book is darkly funny.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 257

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 257

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 31, 2008

There is a difficulty about drawing from all this a moral for ourselves. But then we can say this because we can say that all those are bad moralities, whereas we cannot look at our own moralities and declare them bad. It is natural to feel sympathy for animals who are suffering. This is bad faith.

Morals 40

Morals Factory Farm Factory Farming Neglecting 40

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2013

I will address two of them in the new year, namely, “Is hunting moral at all?” In the past I have attributed some of this conflict to differences between the conservation mindset and that of animal rights/animal welfare. The way things should be is a very powerful motivating factor in human lives.

Tigers 173

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 173

Animal Ethics

JULY 14, 2012

The legal rights individuals have arise as the result of the creative activity of human beings. The concept of moral rights differs in important ways from that of legal rights. The concept of moral rights differs in important ways from that of legal rights. First, moral rights, if there are any, are universal.

Rights 40

Rights Morals Los Angeles Libya 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. Where Are You Birding this Second Weekend of March 2009? It is OK for people to like to hunt.

2011 246

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 246

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 23, 2006

Jonathan Hubbell, a philosophy major at the University of Texas at Arlington, is the newest member of the Animal Ethics blog, and once again, I would like to welcome him aboard. It goes something like this: Yes, I agree that factory farming is morally unjustifiable and ought to be abolished.

Factory Farm 40

Factory Farm Factory Farming Morals Meat 40

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

As with Chinese male humans, having your own building is still vital to raising young. One of the established ways to evaluate self-cognition in animals (including humans) is the mirror test. In the classic test, an animal is anesthetized and then marked on an area of the body the animal cannot normally see.

Birds 186

Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 186

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

The definition of the word HUNT is “to chase or search for game or other wild animals for the purpose of catching or killing.” Lacey of Iowa introduced the nation’s first wildlife-protection law, which banned the interstate shipping of unlawfully killed game. Some people think humans are superior to all other life forms.

Hunting 111

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 111