34 POINT-OF-VIEW

Veterinary Times

SHOULD ANIMALS BE OF MATCHING MORAL IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS?

PREVIOUSLY in this series, we have discussed several aspects of animal rights ethics and issues surrounding sentiency and animal advocacy. This article is aimed at building on the preceding discussions, but will focus additionally on the issue of morality, its definitions and associated philosophical ideals. Due to the complexity of the subjects this particular article will be presented in two parts. I apologise for any major omissions, but there is no scope in an article of this size to highlight all relevant philosophical thoughts, ideas and terms. As with previous articles, a reference list is to follow at the very end of this series. Rollin (2006) says: If our ethical account of human moral obligation to animals cannot effect sympathetic resonance in the hearts and, even more so, in the minds and, ultimately, in the practices of those in society to whom

FRANK BUSCH
PhD, MRCVS

This article is intended to give some guidance and a basis for meaningful discussion.

Morality, status and rights

kjhuob

discusses, in the first of a two-part article, the various viewpoints regarding morality
it is addressed, then it is of no value. Like a good motor, a good piece of moral philosophy should not only spin freely but it also should move something. There is still major debate about whether animals ought to be attributed with moral status, moral rights or both. Opposing parties of thought frequently use terminology that is not only emotionally charged, but often used in the wrong context1.

Having previously highlighted that our social ethics are constantly changing, one could argue this constitutes some form of moral progress centuries ago, animals were dismissed as morally insignificant, but this attitude is becoming increasingly less acceptable. Despite urbanisation2, even agriculture has felt the force of social concern for animal treatment. In Britain, as early as 1965, the publics alarm at the industrialisation of animal agriculture led to the establishment of the Brambell Commission, which affirmed that any agricultural system failing to meet the needs and nature of animals was morally unacceptable. Rollin (2006) comments that, although the Brambell Commissions recommendations had no regulatory status, they nevertheless served as a moral lighthouse for Euro-

pean social thought. Consequently, many animal uses seen as frivolous by the public (such as toxicological testing of cosmetics on animals, genetic engineering and zoo visits) have been abolished or curtailed, even without legislation, which serves as an example of how powerfully effective public voice and opinion can be. Rollin (2006) describes civilisation as the mother of moral philosophy and points out that: At all stages of the development of human thought, mirrored in the development of each human child, questions of right and wrong, good and bad, emerge and cannot be avoided. Despite the presence of these perennial ethical questions, Rollin poignantly reminds us that western thought has been characterised by an omission so pervasive as to have become essentially invisible. He states: Though the childs mind invariably frames this question, it is forgotten as we grow up, repressed by some strange mechanism that allows us to ignore what makes us uncomfortable.

Although there is unprecedented concern for the way animals are treated, Rollin reminds us that, as a society, we have shied away from answering basic questions that we have left others to answer or deal with instead: l why do we restrict our moral theorising to human beings?; l what makes something an object of moral attention?; and l what brings a thing into the moral arena and what makes it an object of moral concern? In our post-industrial age of specialisation and analysis, as a society we have often tried to bury these questions, declare them unanswerable or shunt them off to be dealt with by experts. But they always re-emerge because, as Rollin states: they are as inseparable from culture as life itself. So why, as a society, are we so reluctant to deal with these issues? Rollin suspects that there is a cultural bias that sees animals as tools, like in Martin Heideggers phrase: Ready at hand to be used by us. Rollin further suggests: A sense of guilt, mixed with a fear of where the argument may lead, for if it turns out that reason requires that other animals are as much within the scope of

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Photo: ISTOCKPHOTO/KIM NGUYEN.

One opinion is that for a dog to have a moral status, it means that the animal has a moral importance in its own right and should be treated well for its own sake, rather than a moral positioning based on a human viewpoint.

April 7, 2008
moral concern as are humans, we must view our entire history, as well as all aspects of our daily lives, from a new perspective [] if animals must be brought under the umbrella of moral concern and deliberation, the comfortable sense of right and wrong that securely governs our everyday existence is no longer tenable, and we can no longer eat, sleep, and work in the same untroubled way. considers beating a dog for fun to be wrong because it damages the pet owners property4 (the dog), suggesting that the pet owners interests are the relevant factors. Person B argues that it is cruel harming the dog in said fashion, because cruelty is a vice that humans should not cultivate5 (arguing that having this vice makes one more likely to eventually mistreat humans6, 7). Person B arrives at the same conclusion but, again, it is the human interests that are the basis for opposing cruelty. If we are to afford moral status to animals in the example mentioned, we have to oppose cruelty because the dogs welfare counts in its own right; the animal has moral importance, independently of how human interests might be furthered by promoting the dogs welfare. Over the years, societal attitudes have changed (see discussion on social ethics in the first article of this series) and now most people intuitively would say that at least overt cruelty towards animals is wrong, even if they find it hard to explain why. Many teachers and societal organisations have long realised that although ethical intuitions may exist, empathy, for example, is not an inborn character trait but needs to be learned8. Hence, to prepare school children as caring, compassionate,
continued overleaf

POINT-OF-VIEW 35
Table 1. Three increasingly strong senses of animal rights
The moral status sense of right Animals have at least some moral status. Animals do not exist solely for human use, so they should be treated well for their own sake. The equal consideration sense of right We must give equal moral weight to humans and animals comparable interests. Animal suffering matters as much as human suffering. The utility trumping sense of right Like humans, animals have vital interests that we must not override (with few if any exceptions) even in an effort to maximise utility for society. Animals have a right to liberty, meaning we should not harmfully confine them, even if doing so would predictably bring about benefits and few costs.

Source: DeGrazia D (2002). Animal rights: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

Determining status
As with most moral questions, we are inclined to start with our moral intuitions3 our gut feelings about right and wrong and the scope of morality. Whether ethical intuitions are inborn, socially conditioned or parentally instilled, we all have such feelings. For example, virtually all of us share the intuition that it is wrong to boil babies for fun (our babies or anyone elses), though perhaps many of us could not provide a very articulate defence or reason behind that intuition. However, Rollin says, when it comes to the moral status of animals, our intuitions are mixed, inchoate and inconsistent. For example, we may feel that our dog is an object of moral concern but not our neighbours, and they, in turn, feel just the opposite. Or we may feel that it is not immoral to chain a dog, provided the chain is not too short. Or we may feel it is fine to kill 10 Siberian tigers, as long as they are not the last 10 Siberian tigers. Or we may feel that it is legitimate to kill an animal for its own good, while also feeling that the ultimate value for any living thing is life.

NEW

Moral status
Traditionally, philosophy has not been effective at defending the moral status of animals. Arguably, Aristotle was responsible, initially, for the superior attitude that western societies have taken towards animals. For Aristotle, animals were devoid of reason and, in his mind, the power of reason is what distinguishes humans from animals. More than 2,000 years later, society and its modern philosophers are still grappling with the same issues. To claim, for example, that a dog has moral status means that the dog has a moral importance in its own right, independent of its relation to humans. It means the animals interest and welfare matters must be taken seriously and that the animal ought to be treated well for the animals sake. DeGrazia (2002) gives a good example, highlighting where animal cruelty is seen as wrong by basing that decision wholly on human interests and, therefore, not affording moral status. Person A and person B agree that gratuitously to harm an animal is wrong, but they have different reasons for agreeing with this judgement. Person A

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36 POINT-OF-VIEW
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Veterinary Times
so-called spirit of deep ecology in the school curriculum; instead of embracing anthropocentrism, children would develop an ecocentric attitude (in which human beings are to be understood as an inseparable part of the ecosystem, rather than humans at the centre of existence) and engage themselves in eco-activism (Pattnaik, 2004).
Photo: ISTOCKPHOTO/ISABEL MASS.

SHOULD ANIMALS BE OF MATCHING MORAL IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS? from page 35

toward domestic pets, and the humane treatment of living creatures. There is not scope in this article to discuss all the advantages that responsibility for looking after animals provides for the development of young children. However, it is worth pointing out that understanding a pets needs aids children in their journey toward empathy and forming perspective of the world, which represent a gradual departure from childhood egocentricity (Pattnaik, 2004). Melson (2001) remarks that the non-verbal communication between children and their pets hones childrens ability to understand the internal states of other beings through non-verbal cues. It also highlights that the idea that the gender-neutral aspect of pet care has significant implications for childrens gender role development, especially for young boys, who often very early internalise a widely held misperception that caring is a feminine domain. Hyde, Kurdek, and Larson (1983) report that pet-owning children demonstrate higher social sensitivity and interpersonal trust than non-owners. Environmental educators around the world now seem to adopt the promotion of the

socially and environmentally responsible individuals, so-called kindness clubs9 (organised by the World Society for the Protection of Animals WSPA) and other organisational drives are filling the gap until the school education systems hopefully catch up. As we have shown, the issues of animal rights are deeply embedded in ethical and moral consideration concerning humanitys responsibility towards other beings, and Tuuk (1999) argues that the existence of animals needs to be perceived beyond their instrumental values, such as economic, environmental or other such usefulness. Rather, animals should be recognised for their intrinsic value that is, the animal is of value for its own sake. An exploration of animal welfare and rights issues may be the entry point to a wider environmental consciousness for many young people; some states in the US have taken this issue further and legislated humane education laws for schools. For example, the California Education Code 233.5 states that: Each teacher shall endeavour to impress upon the minds of the pupils the principles of morality, truth, justice [] including the promotion of harmonious relations, kindness

Moral rights and terminology

The issue affording moral rights to animals is ongoing and continues to be controversial not helped by the fact that the term moral rights is often used without clearly defining its meaning. DeGrazia (2002) identifies three senses of right, which he calls the three increasingly strong senses of animal rights (see Table 1). To say that a being has rights is to say that the being has a moral status. In the case of the weakest right, the moral status sense of right, the animal has moral status but it holds less of a moral status than a human. It means that the animal has the right not to suffer or to be killed, as its interests are morally important in their own right and these rights should not be overridden without good reason. It becomes immediately obvious that the term without good reason is an opt-out clause that opens the door for abuse to animals.

The WSPAs animal kindness clubs aim to prepare children to be caring and compassionate, rather than carrying on an egocentric view of the world around them into adulthood.

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LOCUM GODDARD VETERINARY HOSPITAL 84 NEW WANSTEAD LONDON E11 2SY Tel: 020 8989 4993 Fax: 020 8532 9096 Haemoglobin PCV RBCs Retic Percentage MCV MCHC White Cells Nucleated RBCs Differential Neutrophils Band Neutrophils Lymphocytes Monocytes Eosinophils Platelet Count Film Comment PATHOLOGY REPORT Owner : RICHARDSON Address : Animal Name : FELIX Species : FELINE Breed : DSH Age : 11 Sex : MALE 8.6 0.25 4.5 2.3 61 32 12.2 18 HAEMATOLOGY g/dL 10^12/L % g/dL 10^9/L 10^9/L L L Lab No: Sample Date: Received: Reported: 000000 07/04/08 07/04/08 07/04/08

ALT ALP AST GGT Bile Acid Total Bilirubin Urea Creatinine Cholesterol Total Protein Albumin Globulin Sodium Potassium Chloride Calcium Phosphate Glucose Thyroxine

s T4 ne 0 li .5 Fe 7
H 7.1 1.3 1.5 1.6 0.7 102 431 130 110 185.0 83 20.7 557 7.1 90 45 45 150 6.1 120 2.84 2.25 11.6 25 BIOCHEMISTRY iu/L iu/L iu/L iu/L umol/L umol/L mmol/L umol/L mmol/L g/L g/L gl/L mmol/L mmol/L mmol/L mmol/L mmol/L mmol/L nmol/l H H H H H H H H H H H H H

( 8.0 - 15.0) ( 0.26 - 0.45 ) ( 5.0 - 10.0 ) ( <0.4% ) ( 39 - 55 ) ( 30 - 36 ) ( 5.5 - 19.5 )

A stricter sense of right is what DeGrazia describes as the equal consideration sense of right. In that sense, to say that someone has a right is to say that person deserves equal consideration. To state that an animal deserves equal consideration to humans is to assert that an animals interest in avoiding suffering is morally as important as a humans interest in avoiding suffering. In an even stricter sense of right, DeGrazia (2002) terms the utility trumping sense of right, in which having a right means that the vital interest in question must be protected, even when protecting it might be disadvantageous to society as a whole. Rights in the utility trumping sense provide almost absolute protection of the individuals interest. It is controversial whether even humans have a right in this sense. Utilitarians, such as Peter Singer and R G Frey, deny that they do. l As indicted, the theme of this article, due to its broad subject matter, will be continued in a future issue of Veterinary Times. Several tables will summarise the initial presentation and a conclusion will end the philosophical discussion of this article.
Footnotes 1. The same dilemma has been highlighted in the previous article

10^9/L ( 2.5 - 12.5 ) 10^9/L H ( 0 - 0.3 ) 10^9/L ( 1.5 - 7 ) 10^9/L H ( 0 - 1.5 ) 10^9/L ( 0 - 1.5 ) 285 10^9/L ( 200 - 800 ) NeutrophiIs show slight left shift. Slight anisopoikilocytosis with polychromasia. Red cells show slight roleaux. ( 16 - 60 ) ( 16 - 68 ) ( 10 - 50 ) ( 0 - 10 ) ( 0 - 15 ) ( 0 - 17 ) ( 6.7 - 10.0 ) ( 50 - 170 ) ( 1.1 - 4.2 ) ( 55 - 75 ) ( 21 - 46 ) ( 25 - 52 ) ( 125 - 155 ) ( 3.50 - 5.50 ) ( 104 - 130 ) ( 1.60 - 2.50 ) ( 0.9 - 2.5 ) ( 4.0 - 6.6 ) ( 10 - 55 )

concerning animal rights. Regarding the terminology of animal rights, sentiency and animal abolition, it is worth reading Gary Franciones website mission statement at www. abolitionistapproach.com/index. php?page_id=54 last accessed October 19, 2007. 2. Along with the development of confinement agriculture came a significant movement of population from rural communities to urban and suburban area (Rollin, 1999). This efflux contributed to the breach of the so-called ancient contract (see discussion below). 3. Blumenson (2000) supports this view and goes on to say that one should not discount the possibility that the human rights and animal rights idea might be fully legitimate without any intellectually articulable foundation at all. He argues that a kind of direct or intuitive knowledge exists that does not require an intellectual or reasoned defence to be worthy of belief. Blumenson continues: This is true of some other kinds of knowledge the kind of intuitive knowledge we draw on when we recognise a family resemblance, anticipate a musical progression, or speak grammatically without knowing the rules. Some moral knowledge could be like this recognisable but inarticulable because it is more felt than thought; or because it is so complex, contextual, or thick with disjunctive factors that it cannot be effectively reduced to general principles; or because it is so nominalistic or basic that it can only be seen, not explained in other terms. Given these possibilities, if one has a moral intuition that resists reasoned analysis, it is surely more rational to

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be guided by it than to presume it false. I know that the innocent have a moral right not be punished, even if I cannot say much more than that. 4. This view and the pets are property legislation is being challenged, and serve as a further example of changing social ethics. This issue will be examined in a forthcoming article. 5. This is the basis of the so-called indirect duty view. 6. Until recently, violence towards children, domestic violence, and violence against the elderly were considered unrelated to violent acts toward animals. A growing body of research and evidence demonstrates that individuals who perpetrate acts of cruelty against animals rarely stop there. Animal abuse can be a warning sign of future serious violent behaviour, especially among young offenders. Increasingly, child protection and social service agencies, mental health professionals and educators regard animal abuse as a significant form of aggressive and antisocial behaviour, and consider it an important red flag in identifying other violent behaviour. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has produced a leaflet that provides further information; the brochure also boasts a very impressive reference list www.nspcc.org. uk/Inform/publications/downloads/ understandingthelinks_wdf48177.pdf 7. The much quoted saying by Mahatma Gandhi, that one should judge a nation by the way it treats its animals, in effect comes to the same conclusion humans who treat animals with dignity will most likely treat other humans similarly. 8. Teacher and author David A Levine is convinced empathy can and should be taught in schools. Levine states: We cant afford not to teach empathy and its companion behaviours. I define empathy as a way of thinking and being that is intentionally caring and compassionate. In practice, empathy is a combination of social skills that include high-levels of listening, perspective-taking, decisionmaking, and helping others. Each of these skills can be taught. (www. education-world.com/a_issues/chat/ chat166.shtml last accessed January 27, 2008). 9. Recognising the need for fostering responsibility towards animals among children, the WSPA has implemented humane education programmes (including the kindness clubs), that run in most parts of the world, including England and Ireland. These teach children compassion and respect for all lives, promote responsible pet ownership, and engage children in important community-wide animal welfare projects. n

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