To the man in the street, living within the gigantic concrete inner cities of the First World, the term “animal rights” has a wholesome and acceptable ring. It is easy for the city slicker to erroneously cultivate the idea that it is synonymous with “animal welfare” – another wholesome sounding ideal. He has no idea that these two labels are very far from being equal.
TRUE Animal “welfare” people are concerned about how man treats the animals that he “uses” – when they plough a field or pull a cart. And when man has to kill an animal to obtain meat to eat, their only concern is that the killing process should be humane. So they don’t try to prohibit man’s use of animals, instead, they look after man’s civilised standards in his treatment of the animals that he uses. We should ALL, therefore, become and remain TRUE animal welfarists.
No matter what they say to the contrary, animal “rightists” are not concerned with regulating the humane treatment of animals. Their purpose is to ABOLISH all animal uses by man. And they insist that humankind should live on a vegetable diet alone.
In the agricultural field, they insist that there should be no farming with domesticated animals of any kind; no abattoirs; no butcheries; no supermarkets selling beef, mutton, pork, poultry or venison; or eggs, fish, cheese or milk. Cattle fences should be pulled down and the farmers’ cows, sheep and goats should be allowed to roam free.
In the wildlife arena, they insist that all the game fences that surround our game ranches, be pulled down and the animals they once contained should be allowed to roam free everywhere. Ownership of wild animals should be outlawed; there should be no catching; translocating, buying and/or selling of wild animals; no hunting; no harvesting; and every wild animal should be allowed to return to nature where it belongs. There should be no trade in wildlife and wildlife products – because, they say, it is immoral to make money out of wild animals.
The animal rightists, however, cannot achieve any of their goals without violating the legitimate rights of most people on planet earth; their doctrine is totally incompatible with the principles and practices of science-based wildlife management; and there is no place within civilised societies – anywhere – where humanity can accommodate their bizarre ideas.
There is a lot more that we need to discuss if society is to understand the iniquitous nature of the animal rights movement. And it is all bad… bad… bad.
But the above is enough for today.
Image Credit: Alan & Elfriede Ainslie
