Document text
2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Ashland woman dies after car rolls over her in driveway ... Man jailed after shots fired in Ashland ... Stubborn muddy waters flowing out of Emigrant Lake ... Ashland woman dies after car rolls over her in driveway ... Man jailed after shots fired in Ashland ... Stubborn muddy waters flowing out of Emigrant Lake ... RELOCATIONS Herb Rothschild Jr.: More about animals Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Jun. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Let’s continue to think about our treatment of animals. Perhaps we need go no further than to agree that we should not cause them needless suffering. Not only would securing such agreement be easy, but the proposition also provides a sufficient ground rule for curbing the most widespread and unconscionable forms of animal abuse, those in factory farming, in research, and some forms of entertainment. Using it, we can largely avoid personal complicity and also seek to enact and enforce humane public policies. Such agreement, however, would mask significant differences in both thought and practice, such as whether we should eat meat even if the animals have been treated well and slaughtered humanely. As I said last week, only if we explore the fundamental premises undergirding our decisions can we achieve clarity, though probably not unanimity, on how to treat animals. I begin with Peter Singer, whose book Animal Liberation (1975, rev. 1990) was a landmark in two ways: he alerted large numbers of people to what was happening in factory farms and research laboratories, and he spurred systematic thinking about how we should behave. Central to Singer’s thinking is the concept of speciesism, which he parallels to racism and sexism. Here’s his reasoning: Like whites’ treatment of peoples of color and like males’ treatment of females, humans’ treatment of animals is based on the assumption of differences sufficient to warrant unequal respect and thus, inevitably, ill treatment. But we too are animals. The line between human and non-human animals is not firm. Chimps and many other species have greater mental powers than humans with advanced dementia, and we don’t tolerate, say, killing them. Most important, what “sentient” animals (he means mammals and birds) share with humans is the capacity to feel pain. By condemning speciesism, Singer concludes that sentient animals should have moral, and by extension, legal standing quite apart from what humans may think of them. They should have, not claims on our care and consideration, but rights. This line of thought has won many adherents. I find it bizarre. Put yourself into these two scenarios: In both you are starving, but you can make it if you find enough food to hold out two more days. In both scenarios you are with a human cadaver. In the first, a deer comes along, which you can kill and eat. What will you do, kill and eat the deer or eat the human cadaver, which will feel no pain? In the second scenario, a person of a different race comes along, whom you can kill and eat. What will you do, kill and eat that person or eat the human cadaver? Of course you would kill the deer, and of course you wouldn’t kill the live human. These answers indicate a special connection to our own species, and I hope an unapologetic one. We should treat wild animals the way we should treat our entire natural environment, including earth, air, and water, which are non-sentient but require our respect. Our treatment of domesticated animals, where most of the abuse and the debates occur, is a somewhat different matter. The domestication of animals changed human culture, and it changed the animals themselves. These breeds wouldn’t exist without us, and they can’t survive on their own. Coherent discussions of their proper treatment should begin, not with them, but with our relationship to them and what it says about us. Let’s accept ourselves as a unique, and uniquely moral, species. And let’s try to act at our best. Herb Rothschild Jr. is chairman of the board of Peace House. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501