Dignity

Oxford dictionary defines speciesism as “discrimination against or exploitation of certain animal species by human beings, based on an assumption of mankind’s superiority” (198). I, by no means, would consider myself a ‘speciest’, while at the same time, there is definitely an obvious difference between animals and humans. Animal’s parallel humans, more than they diverge from them. Humans walk upright, while animals walk on four, humans can make decisions based on logic and ethics, while animals make decisions based on instinct. So, yes, animals and humans are different, but who is to say one is any better than the other? Who is to decide who lives and dies and what kind of life-style they are permitted to survive through? “Beneath the many differences, there is a sameness. Like us, animals embody the mystery and wonder of consciousness” (567).

Growing up, my family was not the most well-off bunch in the neighborhood and for that reason, we were did not have the privilege of being picky eaters. Where the food came from was of no consequence to us, we were just concerned with eating ourselves and nurturing our own bodies. I have eaten meat throughout my entire life and, consequently, I enjoy the taste. Whether this enjoyment is merely through the accustomed taste, I am not sure. It was not until my junior year of high school that my animal-activist English teacher allowed the class to watch “Earthlings” that I began thinking twice about what I was consuming. Or who I was consuming. Anthropocentrism is “the conviction that humans are the pinnacle of evolution, the appropriate yardstick by which to measure the lives of other animals, and the rightful owner of everything that lives” (603). There is absolutely no excuse for a human to feel as if they are in control of another being. Scenes pebbled throughout “Earthlings” focused on not only the cruel physical abuse and murdering of the animals, but also on the mental and emotional disgust thrown towards the innocent animals. “The cruelty is hard to deny – and the outrage hard to squelch – now that advocates have brought this reality into public discussion” (615).


Growing up, I never realized that the meat that was nourishing my body could have been abused and tortured for my benefit. I do believe that many animals were created in order to fulfill their task in the cycle and energy flow of life. Snakes eat mice, so too, will humans eat cows or chickens. According to Jonathan Safran Froer, “to speak about eating animals today is to speak about factory farming” and “ninety-nine percent of all land animals eaten or used to produce milk and eggs in the United States are factory farmed” (599). Simply because we eat animals, does not mean that we also must be ignorant about where and who they came from. I feel that as a species with the ability to make complex decisions, it is our responsibility to step forward and protect the lives of animals before they are killed to nurture our own bodies. They deserve the dignity of living without abuse before they must die.



http://blogs.greenpeace.ca/?cat=9&paged=3

http://www.thylazine.org/gallery/mules/

http://erinbrennan.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/the-hidden-link-between-factory-farms-and-human-illness/