The Manual of Animal Rights

[Daniel]

The Manual of Animal Rights (http://www.flashback.se/archive/ar_man.html)
by David Cowles-Hamar
Originally published in The Vegan

Answers to 176 common questions about veganism.

[Emiloid]

Interesting... thanks for posting that.

[spasticastic]

Looks great, I'd like to read it sometime when I'm not supposed to be working!

[FarmerStephen]

An interesting piece, but I just ca'nt get behind the whole 'we need to cut the balls off of our dogs' ideas, next to 'docking sheeps tails is cruel' - :confused:

It seems like the same kind of 'what I do is okay, but what you do is unacceptable' argument that turns so many folks off from the A.R. movement. Anyhoo, I wo'nt beat this horse anymore, it was killed like 3 or 4 threads ago. :umm:

[bluedawg]

Daniel, thanks a bunch for posting that. i will be reading and then forwarding it to lots of people. ;)

[VegeTexan]

Thanks for posting that, Daniel. I thought it was going to be a review of a book we should buy, nice to find that it's a free tract online. It reminds me of a book I recently read that I would like to promote, "Plant Roots", by Rex Bowlby, a great book.
http://www.rexbowlby.com/about-books-plantroots.html

[Daniel]

An interesting piece, but I just ca'nt get behind the whole 'we need to cut the balls off of our dogs' ideas, next to 'docking sheeps tails is cruel' - :confused:

It seems like the same kind of 'what I do is okay, but what you do is unacceptable' argument that turns so many folks off from the A.R. movement. Anyhoo, I wo'nt beat this horse anymore, it was killed like 3 or 4 threads ago. :umm:
Actually, I thought question 147 was well reasoned. The point is neither sheep, nor dog, should be bred. Domestic animals are born into a system of exploitation. Once they are bred almost every aspect of their lives is going to be controlled by humans. Yes, removing an animals reproductive organs is going to be "a gross infringement of the rights of that animal," as David Cowles-Hamar said. However, if reproduction is not controlled in domestic animals the offspring of those animals will be subject to a life of total subjugation. In the case of both the sheep and the dog, being bred into slavery is the first and must fundimental rights violation. We need to work to abolish domestic animals if we want to end animal slavery.

However, as Cowles-Hamar said, "domestic cats and dogs seem, again, to be a special case." This is an important point, because birth control should not be used on free-living animals. So-called "wild" animals are not dependent on humans, so the introduction of population control would be a way of subjugating animals that actually have freedom. Larry Kaiser said something along these lines in the Animal Rights Frequently Asked Questions:

#75 What about keeping pets?

In a perfect world, all of our efforts would go toward protecting the habitats of other species on the planet and we would be able to maintain a "hands off" approach in which we did not take other species into our family units, but allowed them to develop on their own in the wild. However, we are far from such a Utopia and as responsible humans must deal with the results of the domestication of animals. Since many animals domesticated to be pets have been bred but have no homes, most AR supporters see nothing wrong with having them as companion animals. As a matter of fact, the AR supporter may well provide homes for more unwanted companion animals than does the average person! Similarly, animals domesticated for agricultural purposes should be cared for.

However, animals in the wild should be left there and not brought into homes as companions. A cage in someone's house is an unnatural environment for an exotic bird, fish, or mammal. When the novelty wears off, wild pets usually end up at shelters, zoos, or research labs. Wild animals have the right to be treated with respect, and that includes leaving them in their natural surroundings.
I think the part in bold is the ideal we should all be working towards.