Naty
I read a newspaper article this week about how a study has found that some dogs are as intelligent as two year olds. Imagine that; dogs as intelligent as two year olds! You know who else is as intelligent as two year olds? Two year olds.
Ok, sarcasm aside, my point is this: so what? Why are we humans obsessed with comparing the intellectual abilities of one species to that of another? All this proves is that humans, as a species, consider ourselves superior. Superior to animals, superior to each other…
Our superiority complex as regards animals manifests itself in the way we treat them. We treat them like they are ours to own, dominate, enslave, use, torture, kill, eat and debase. Nevertheless our treatment of animals is merely a manifestation of a deeper problem: we think we are superior. I just don’t believe that we are.
This superiority complex was highlighted to me during a recent conversation with an omnivore. Discussing some recent health concerns, he said to me ‘what if you found out that you would be completely better if you ate just a little bit of fish, would you eat it?’ He followed up with some typical misguided notions about fish (apart from farmed fish) living in the wild and having a great life, and supposedly not feeling pain etc. My response was ‘what if you found out that you would be completely healthy if you ate just a little bit of baby, and the baby was otherwise doomed to a terrible abusive life, and it would be put down humanely so as to feel no pain, would you eat it?’. He got offended and said ‘that’s different!’ Unsurprisingly the conversation ended there.
I admit that it was an extreme and almost absurd example. I can see why he was challenged by it. But that’s my point – I just don’t see the difference.
I don’t see a moral difference between a human’s right to life and that of a non human. As a whole humans do see that difference. In Australia we believe that humans have an inalienable right to life. At the same time we think that humans have a right to take a life, that of a non human, for our own purposes.
I have yet to come across a convincing argument as to why humans should be entitled to take an animal’s life and treat it as expendable. Our supposed superior intellectual capacity isn’t enough. If it were there would need to be some serious changes in the way we think about and treat people with intellectual disabilities, or children, or people with brain injuries etc.
There would also need to be some changes in the way we think about and treat pigs, and monkeys, and following this latest study, dogs.