Animal welfare/Animal protection

Individuals and organizations interested in animal welfare
and animal protection do not object to institutional uses of
animals (i.e., using them for food, clothing, entertainment,
sports or experimentation). Instead, their priority is to
decrease the suffering of the animals being used. Animal
welfarists seek to regulate the way we use animals, rather
than campaign for people to stop using them. Welfarists
may be vegans, but don’t see veganism as
necessary, as they don’t object to killing animals
for food, clothing, research or sport.

What do YOU want for animals? What do YOU believe about animals?

In order to responsibly decide how you feel about
this topic and what you believe, you ought to first
inform yourself of the facts, which may very well
be different from what you currently think is true.
Let’s deconstruct some of the most common beliefs
about our relationship with nonhuman animals.

Nonhuman animals aren’t people, after all, so
what’s the big deal about using them?

Two concepts are operating here; let’s address
them one at a time.

Animals are like us in some
ways, and unlike us in other, more obvious ways.
For people interested in animal rights, one
trait we share with nonhuman animals is of
paramount importance: sentience. Until the
20th century, many suspected that dogs, cows,
chickens, cats and even fish have the capacity
to experience pain, but the fact that these nonhumans
are indeed sentient was not accepted or
addressed by mainstream scientists.

It’s 2008, and we now know that, just like
human animals, nonhuman animals express not
only pain, but other feelings such as: pleasure,
fear, boredom and frustration. They play, they
grieve, they cuddle and they deceive.
They have friendships,preferences,
expectations and beliefs. Many demonstrate
they have some degree of moral code.

The fact is that animals lead lives rich in
thought, emotion, culture and relationships.
As such, they care about their well-being,
and they have an interest in living their lives
free from subjugation by others, just like you do.

That last sentence addresses the second
part of the original statement: the use of animals.
Taking away someone’s freedom and using them
for your gain (which includes using them for
your palate) is unacceptable for animal rights
advocates. It is a form of violence, and part of the
foundation of animal rights is nonviolence. It is
also unjust, and another part of the foundation of
animal rights is social justice.

I believe that as long as we don’t inflict
unnecessary suffering, it’s okay to use animals.

Unnecessary suffering is cruel, you don’t want
any part of cruelty, and that’s admirable. In order
to make an informed decision about whether
you’re inflicting unnecessary suffering, however,
you’d first have to educate yourself about the
current status of the suffering of animals, right?
Let’s examine some common notions regarding
how animals are treated.