Making it Better Might Make it Worse

983:

If the living conditions of farm animals are made better, that is a plus.  Trouble is, it might lend respectability to the whole business of keeping animals for food.  Or, to put it another way, as my friend CJ says (referring to the recent ACT outlawing of certain intensive farming practices) the improvements “will make the ordinary consumer feel OK about eating meat/eggs because the poor creatures are in better conditions”, which she fears, “will only make things WORSE for the animals”.  I agree.

Unless we stand firm about the NO-USE principle, it will be swamped by those who represent the easier-to-implement, compromise position, when it comes to animal use.  I think we should always appeal to the highest and most generous aspect of the human spirit and not encourage people to think it’s enough to merely improve animal welfare.

What is needed is a new perception of the farm animal so our relationship with them can never again be watered down to suit human convenience.  Because they are sentient and sensitive, because they run away when attacked, because they develop social groups and they care for their offspring (similar to humans) animals must never be objectified.  They are NOT inanimate.  They are distinctly different to carrots.  They can’t be regarded as mere commodities, anymore than humans or companion animals can be.  The shift in how we perceive these animals - pigs and chickens and cows and many more - involves seeing them as irreplaceable, sovereign individuals.  Those enslaved in captivity with no control over their lives, who are fattened for slaughter or groomed for other forms of food production, need OUR help.

If animals are to be released from slavery, it will only come about because we think about them as we might an abused child who needs a permanent safety base.  There are too many people in our present society who will not see animals this way and who are willing to do almost anything to make a living out of using/abusing them.  Those who aren’t using animals need to be clear about their priorities regarding  animals.  Firstly, DON'T EAT THEM!  Secondly,  help release them into a protected environment where they’re no longer being bred to be ‘farmed’.

This requires a leap of vision and will only come about through our human generosity of spirit and empathy.

Ed:CJ