Humans aren’t species snobs, that’s just evolution
According to PETA’s latest outcry, anyone who thinks animals are different to humans is engaging in the barbaric practice of “speciesism”. It would be funny if it wasn’t so utterly ridiculous, writes David Penberthy.
I’m not sure if you had it in your diary, but Saturday was World Day for the End of Speciesism.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — you know, that organisation whose supporters were busy earlier this year trying to bankrupt Aussie farmers and tormenting innocent Gippsland hippies who make delicious goats cheese — has coined the term “speciesism” to denote all forms of thinking, speech and behaviour that regard animals as inferior to those us who go by the zoological moniker homo sapiens.
“Speciesism” seeks to elevate cruelty (at worst) or ambivalence (at best) towards animals to the same level as the other more serious isms, such as sexism, ageism and racism.
If you tease out the internal logic of this new moral framework, it effectively holds that saving the seals or eschewing meat consumption is the ethical equivalent of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, that being a carnivore is no different to being a cannibal, and that enjoying something like, say, horse racing, makes you pretty much a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
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These are the consequences of the moral interchangeability of animals and humans. White Ribbon Day suddenly becomes as important as saying no to a piece of steak.
The directive from PETA is that we are no longer to regard animals as things we can use to entertain us, work for us, and worst of all, feed us.
“Speciesism is a bias in favour of one species, such as humans, over others — just as one particular set of humans may be biased against another,” PETA tells us on its website.
“It’s the misguided belief that one species is more important than another.”
Let’s think this through. As a species I don’t mind sharing the dance floor with the chimpanzees. They’re great animals. They did a lot of work in the field of space exploration.
Whales are majestic, dolphins are intelligent, and the octopus is a veritable genius. I have seen video footage of an octopus that was placed by scientists in an aquarium containing a large screw-top bell jar with a lobster inside. The octopus circled the jar a few times, sussing things out. Eventually it worked out that it could sit on top of the jar and unscrew the lid, to catch and eat the lobster.
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Perhaps one day we can train an octopus to complete our tax returns. But you don’t have to look too far around the animal kingdom to find creatures that really struggle to make the cut in the bid for equal billing with humankind. The slug, the mosquito, and the star-nosed vole spring to mind. And don’t get me started on dogs. I’ve got two dogs and love them dearly. But whoever said dogs were smart hasn’t met mine, unless of course licking your nether regions is a sign of intelligence.
In all seriousness, what about mice? We have had a minor mouse plague at our house this past fortnight. I bought a trap and have caught six so far in their hidey-hole under our sink. I’ve done so with no glee, as they are cute little things, but they’re also disease-spreading vermin. I’m not sure what PETA’s alternative in this case would be — open dialogue and negotiation, I guess, where I sit down as an equal with the mice, and thrash out my concerns over their presence in the kitchen.
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When it comes to the genuinely serious question of racism, in recent years there’s been a bit of politically correct hairsplitting, unsurprisingly from the campuses in the United States, about the question of “casual” racism and what are regarded as micro-aggressions. These are the sublimated or coded terms we use in everyday life, or forms of language that inadvertently convey prejudice or superiority. Hilariously, PETA believes these same strictures should apply to popular sayings that pepper our daily language. This is why they’re opposed to the use of similes and metaphors such as “dead as a dodo” or “your goose is cooked” or “letting the cat out of the bag”. The view is that such terms legitimise a sense of superiority over animals or make light of violence towards animals.
There’s a term for these people. They’re as mad as cut snakes.
The key difference, of course, between animals and humans is that we possess the faculty of reason. And that is the reason why in a few short millennia we have clawed our way to the top of the food chain. We have evolved as omnivores.
If you have an ethical problem with eating animals, that’s fine, but it’s no reason to argue for the banning or shaming of those of us who choose to maintain a diet that befits the manner in which we have evolved.
The full extent of this animal-related stupidity was laid bare a couple of weeks ago when it was reported in Sydney that vets had found cases where vegan cat owners were making their animals sick by putting them on meat-free diets. Cats, the vets explained, are “obligate” carnivores, which means their bodies simply cannot function without a steady supply of meat. It’s why when you watch David Attenborough’s Life on Earth the lions aren’t roaming the plains of Africa looking for a falafel roll.
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This is peak idiocy, where by trying to make a statement about cruelty to animals, these cat owners risk killing one.
In a recent post, Associate Professor Rachel Allavena from the School of Veterinary science at the University of Queensland spelled out the dangers of forcing your poor moggy to become a vego.
“Cats must eat meat to survive,” she wrote. “Meat provides cats with an essential amino acid called taurine, as well as vitamins A and B, arginine and arachidonic acid. Without these nutrients cats develop a series of devastating health problems including eye and liver problems, birth defects and heart failure.”
I correct my earlier statement. Most humans have the faculty of reason.
And happy Speciesism Day. I hope you had a ball. And remember, next Saturday is World Bacon Day. I know which one I’ll be observing.