The Right to be Involved

I would like to comment on whether animal rights activists have a legitimate right to be concerned about the actions of others. Usually this statement is issued from someone in a form similar to; “If you don’t want to eat or kill animals then that is your right, but it is my right if I want to continue hunting and/or consuming animals.” So the question must come to bear, are animal rights activists placing their interests where they do not belong? The answer, as you will see, is an unequivocal and resounding, no!

Let’s imagine that the arbitrary killing of humans, were wide spread and legal. It must be conceded that an individual could not say with any degree of ethical fortitude that the choice to kill other human beings is everyone’s right. Furthermore, it would be inconceivable to say that not only is the killing of humans legal, but for those who carry out such acts it is merely a choice that no other individual has precedence to become involved in. Yet, when the subject is shifted to animals, this is what some in the “animal use” community assert; that in the face of immoral and arbitrary actions activists should simply mind our own business.

The concern from activists hinges upon ethics and what we feel is the immoral nature inherent in the animal use position. All of society has an interest in the morality of that body and few, if any, concerns involving ethics can escape such an interest. The topics of abortion, capitol punishment, and euthanasia are but a few of the moral concerns discussed in our society. However, just because an individual is not involved in each of these activities does not exclude them from discussing their merit. If dissenting opinions were excluded by virtue of non-participation, many religious voices would have to remain silent on issues such as abortion because they do not directly participate in that action. One does not need to participate in capitol punishment, abortion, or euthanasia to be aware of and argue its moral implications for society. Accordingly, this is the case with animal rights.

Because the treatment of nonhuman animals is a moral concern, it is inescapably a part of society. Accordingly, everyone has a right to become involved in said issue regardless of whether they are a direct participant. Martin Luther King Jr. perhaps summed it up best when he stated, “An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere.”

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