The Lives of Animals

Disney movies instill in the youth a compassion for animals that can also help in compassion for other people

I imagine that many people think that someone who is intent upon the rights of animals, especially when discussing their unnecessary use in such luxuries as clothing and food, believe that he or she has “delicate sensibilities” (Coetzee, 60). People refer to these sentiments as “propaganda against cruelty to animals” (Coetzee, 61), but what harm is there in listening to ‘propaganda’ that is against the ill treatment of other beings? Why are humans so selfish and intent on trivializing the sufferings of others? Costello is criticized because “opinions on animals, animal consciousness and ethical relations with animals are jejune and sentimental” (Coetzee, 61). I say that there is nothing shameful or naïve about treating everything with respect.

The lion, seen as an extremely violent and terrifying creature, differs from us in its dependence on certain types of food.

“By treating fellow human beings, beings created in the image of God, like beasts, they had themselves become beasts” (Coetzee, 65). If we pride ourselves so much on being “human” and above all of the characteristics of the “savage” animal world, why then, do we kill other animals, just as a lion (identified as a savage animal) would kill another animal? If it is within us to be able to survive without having to go to such lengths, why don’t we? The key difference between the lion and us is that we can survive solely by eating plants. A lion does not know the difference between right and wrong, granted the right thing to do for a lion is to kill for food and survival.

Would you say that this artichoke is alive or dead?

Of course the argument is brought up that vegetarians are hypocritical because they don’t consider plants to have feelings. Isn’t it just as inhumane to kill a plant for food, as it is to kill an animal? My feelings on this subject are thus: if we are to survive, we must nourish ourselves. However, the lowest level of nourishment we can accomplish is that of eating plant life and vegetation, and it also achieves the least amount of repercussions, for plants are able to reproduce even after they have been digested, while animals are not. We must survive somehow, and this is the lowest level of survival we can manage. Of course, as always in this sort of situation, something must lose its life; that is the natural order of things. But because we label ourselves as “intelligent” and above all other kingdoms of life, isn’t it within us to use our intelligence to further the advancement of our methods of consumption? Shouldn’t we use our technology and resources to find other ways to obtain our food, ways that do not involve the killing of an innocent animal?

Who could say that they wanted to be kept in a cage for the rest of their life?

“Animals have only their silence left with which to confront us” (Coetzee, 70). Since we cannot communicate directly with animals, we do not know for certain if they know love. But we do know that they feel fear. We know that when they crouch with their limbs shaking that they feel the same kind of terror we can feel. We know that they feel the need for survival, just as we do. Why isn’t this enough? Why are we looking for excuses to minimize an animal’s credibility? Why is it that the “ones that humans have…are more valuable than any that animals have?” (Singer, 744) Instead, shouldn’t we be thinking of what is right and what is wrong? What is morally right? Just because an animal is close to the human synapse does not make it any better than an animal who is not. We are all animals. We reside in different nations, in different groups, and it is this difference that makes the Earth so wonderful and successful. It is this difference that allows us to appreciate what the world has to offer.

The diversity of our Earth is something we should be thankful for, not exploit.

At best, our relationship with the Earth is parasitic; we take and give nothing back. In a perfect world, no one would have to owe anything to anyone. But we have drawn ceaselessly from the well of nature, and it us who owes the most to those we have wronged. If it is in our capacity to feel compassion and a moral sense of right and wrong, feelings that some people claim animals do not possess, then isn’t it up to us to act on these feelings? Our sameness is not in our speech or our backgrounds, but in our will to survive. We all inhabit the Earth, and if it is in our power to differentiate between right and wrong, we should consider our actions once more.