Most people have no idea what this long word means. And now it is past time to be aware that speciesism is the unrighteous act of placing higher moral or ethical value on one species over others.

By MARCELA REZENDE ROSA 
EL NUEVO SOL

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, speciesism is “a prejudice or discrimination based on species, a discrimination against animals.” The dictionary registers that the word was first used in 1973.The term speciesism was introduced by the English philosopher Richard Ryder in the 1970 and it was tied to the emergence of the animal rights movement.

The term speciesism was popularized by the Australian philosopher Peter Singer when he wrote the book Animal Liberation. If veganism would be a religion this book would be the Bible of veganism as Singer’s book brought concepts defining speciesism that no one had written so deeply before. Singer wrote on his book that speciesism is “a prejudice or bias in favour of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.”

An Ethics Guide published by BBC states that, “Speciesism is the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals.”

I will start this essay tearing down the biggest argument people use to keep eating animals even if they consider themselves animal lovers. They eat animals because they believe if they stop they will be unhealthy as in their minds they will not have a source of protein anymore. These people are not aware that plants are a primary source of protein that comes without messing up your cholesterol or your weight and mainly not killing any living being.

We are in 2020 and it has been a long time since science has already proven that animal products can be extremely detrimental to our health. Therefore, taking this into consideration, it means that we choose to eat them and it consequently means that we choose to enslave, exploit, mutilate, dismember, rape, and murder animals solely for temporary taste pleasure.

We often say animals as an antonym of humans without even realize that according to simple biology we humans are also animals. And as we fervently believe that humans deserve basic rights, such as the right to live and experience freedom. Why we do not extend these rights to our fellow non-human animals?

For non speciesists, animal rights are a natural extension of human rights. The question that comes screaming inside my brain is why do we humans believe we are entitled to these rights? What is so special about our species?

Most people would answer that the reason behind it is because we are sentient meaning that we value our life and we want to keep living them. We all are capable of feeling uncountable feelings such as love, hate, happiness, sadness, curiosity and especially fear. Fear because we desperately want to keep what is most precious to us: our life.

Non-human animals are sentient too

Every one of us perceives the world in our own unique way. But the thing is, non-human animals are sentient too. In 2012, a prominent international group of cognitive neuroscientists, neuropharmacologists, neurophysiologists, neuroanatomists and computational neuroscientists, gathered at the University of Cambridge to reassess the neurobiological substrates of conscious experience. These scientists drafted The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness and concluded that “the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurobiological substrates that are responsible to generate consciousness.”

In short, these researchers came to prove scientifically that non-human animals, including all mammals, birds and octopuses we usually eat, also possess these neurobiological substrates which makes them sentient like us.

According to Los Angeles Pierce College psychology professor Stephanie Winnard animals feel even more pain than us humans “because they cannot reason behind that.” Therefore, when they feel they genuinely feel. I know what she means because when I live my house for just thirty seconds to bring my trash downstairs my two dogs get crazy. When I come back home is like if I would have been fighting the war in Afghanistan for 5 consecutive years. Their happiness is absolutely visible.

It is insane how our society exploits animals in all kinds of ways for food, pharmaceutical matters, fashion, tourism, entertainment, hunting, and the list goes on and on. And the fact that animals are sentient beings should come with no surprise to everyone who has ever lived with a non-human animal or spent even 15 seconds with them. All animals have their own personality and preferences. Non-human animals are able to jump, play, ask for food or should I say beg, cry, express fear thus they communicate all the time with us. People believe that animals do not talk and for me they sure do. The thing is that people do not want to listen to them. We need to be the voice for the voiceless.

Why is it acceptable to love dogs and cats, but murder other animals like cows, pigs and chickens?

This is called speciesism, which it is the discrimination of certain animals based purely on their species. It is a kind of racism applied by humans in the non-human animal world. There is no logical system by which we apply speciesism. We are clearly the oppressors, the bullies, that simply pick and choose which animals worth our love and the ones that should be killed for our egoistic and narcissistic pleasures.

We love dogs and cats like genuine family members, but then we murder pigs that by the way are much more intelligent than dogs according to scientific research conducted in the 1990s. Yes, your bacon is smarter than your dog. Pigs are believed to be one of most intelligent animals, following chimps, dolphins, and elephants.

We rape cows to keep them constantly pregnant to produce breastmilk to after also steal their baby, if male to be sold as veal and if female to be the next enslaved dairy cow. We would not even imagine doing that to apes or horses or giraffes.

We have the audacity to kill baby male chicks on their first day of life because they do not lay eggs, making them useless for the egg industry and also not suitable for chicken-meat production. However, we would never think of doing that to bald eagles as especially in the United States they are the nation’s symbol. Why do we behave senselessly like that?

When we are dealing with issues of injustice we must always examine the situation through the victim’s perspective. Being angry at the polemic Yulin Festival in China that sells dog meat, but accepting that other animals, that were not lucky enough to be considered pets, being slaughtered does not make sense. Only because something is considered normal in our society, it does not mean that it is acceptable.

Filmmaker and activist Ryuji Chua says that speciesism makes human think they are entitled to kill animals. The French youtuber says that, “If you take a child away from her mother she will grieve and if we take a baby calfaway from her mother, the cow is also going to grieve the loss of her child.”

The activist says that the moment we put ourselves in the animals’ place, it is humane to become vegan. “The suffering we inflict on the animals is monumental. We can’t even imagine or picture because it is like billions and billions of animals. What does this even mean? We don’t have the brain power to picture that” he says.

Aaron McNair says that animals are here sharing the planet with us, “Therefore, they deserve to live their lives as do we.” The 54-year-old personal trainer says that humans have no greater rights than animals and people who think they do are speciesists. “If we think about the current state of our planet it is all our fault, not the animals.” He says that if we are truthful, “animals are much better than humans are.”

Speciesism has the same roots as racism

Oxford dictionary describes racism as being “the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.” Abolitionist writer Gary Francione says that speciesism is like racism, sexism and homophobia because “it involves using a morally irrelevant criterion to block membership in the moral community.”

Aaron McNair is a proud African American and also an animal rights activist that defend the use of the word slavery when talking to people to bring awareness about animal cruelty. He says that, “Animals are enslaved making it a true correlation.” To him, slavery is not a condition that only belonged to African people, “People have been enslaved in the past and are still being enslaved as we speak.” McNair is aware that some people might get offended but says that this is, once again, an speciesist thought as “we humans are no better than animals.” The activist says that animals are being slaved since the beginning of times and it is past time to stop.

The animal holocaust

Aylam Orian, founder of the animal rights organization Our Planet Theirs Too, says that “Holocaust is not a word entitled only to Jewish people.” And that is true, there were holocausts committed to other people such as the Armenian Holocaust committed by Turkey and in Cambodia committed by their own communist party.

The actor says that animals have been living the biggest and the longest holocaust this planet has ever seen. Himself as an activist and also Jewish says that humans made it easy to compare animals being slaughtered to the Holocaust. In the United Kingdom for example, more than 80 percent of the pigs raised for food die screaming in gas chambers.

Animal exploitation = Human exploitation

Eder Lopez says that there is a direct correlation of exploitation not only to animals but also to human beings. The Honduran-American activist says that, “People forget that there are people working in slaughterhouses.” He traveled to many countries around the world and talked directly with slaughterhouses workers and stress that “the majority were undocumented immigrants that had to work in places no one wishes to work.” Lopez also added that most slaughterhouse workers suffer from depression, PTSD and anger issues because of the terrible environment they are in.

Farmer John slaughterhouse located in Vernon, CA had more than 153 slaughterhouse workers infected with COVID-20. California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has fined a Farmer John meatpacking plant in Vernon, and its temporary staffing agency, for failing to take measures to protect workers from the coronavirus pandemic. These slaughterhouses become like a laboratory for viruses and pandemics prepared to be spread as there are a lot of people working in a tiny space without windows to circulate the air. Lopez says, “Being vegan is not just about animals, it is about fellow human beings too.”

Vegan Veterinarian

Daniela Castillo had always considered herself a huge animal lover. For her, it was a shock to see that most of her vet colleagues were there because their parents had farms and they wanted to keep exploiting animals. Castillo was studying veterinary because she loved and wanted to help animals. She says that her university in Puebla, Mexico was more like a zootechnical engineering course than one for people that were animal lovers.

The Mexican veterinarian went vegan because in one of her presentations she did at the university she was speaking about animal rights and the professor asked if she was vegan and she said she was a vegetarian. Then he said, “You can’t talk about animal rights if you aren’t vegan” in front of a class of 40 people. She says that this was the moment she realized the urgent need to change her habits and switch to veganism for once if she wanted to be a genuine animal lover.

Castillo says that, “My own classmates were bullying me because I was the only vegetarian in the class, I was the only one that wanted to protect all animals.” She was telling them that veterinarian is the only type of doctor that eats its own patients. Castillo says that she finished Veterinary feeling disgusted by how a profession, that in her mind was supposed to take care of animals, was built on the exploitation of animals.

Personal choice is not an excuse

We can not convince ourselves that eating animals is a personal choice, because it is never a personal choice when there is a victim involved. In a planet that is home to 8 billion people, most times it is hard to feel like we matter as individuals. It will sound cliché but every single one of us does. Humanity is full of humans lacking humanity.

When you decide to eat a plant-based meal have in mind that you are making a difference not only for yourself, your health and for the animals. Remember that this is will make a huge impact on saving our planet that is on the verge of a climate change collapse. Please, choose the preservation of our planet over your taste bud.

Paige Roache says that she has always been active for many causes such as women’s rights and environmental issues. She decided to go vegan five years ago after her 13-year-old daughter showed her the animal cruelty that is involved in all industries that produces animal products plus the environmental impact on our planet. She stresses that, “I could no longer look at my daughter’s face and walk this planet knowing that I was doing damage do this planet and that I could do something about it.”

The news producer of Jane Unchained News, the biggest animal rights news portal in the world, says that, “Speciesism is when we as human beings have selected ourselves to be dominant over the animal kingdom.” Roache says that she feels extremely happy when she stops and think about how many animals she has saved by not eating them and also by sharing her vegan lifestyle with people for over five years.

There is no humane slaughter

Jo-Anne McArthur, photographer and founder of We Animals, says that she originally entered photography motivated by its artistic side but her motives changed quickly when she decided to take pictures of exploited animals all over the world in places like slaughterhouses, bullfights and zoos. McArthur started to see her camera as her “tool for creating change.”

The Canadian award-winning photojournalist, humane educator, animal rights activist and author aims that her pictures show people that animals are individuals and have feelings. For her pictures, she awaits for that moment when the animals are gaining her trusts and are feeling “safe.” Through her photographs, McArthur wants to sparkle empathy inside all human’s heart.

While taking tough and emotional pictures of animals’ last minutes alive she holds herself up and repeats that she is there documenting everything “for a greater good.” That is the best way she found to give voice to the voiceless as one picture is worth a thousand words, in her case I bet it worth billions.

Religion or traditions should not be an excuse to exploit innocent beings

Charli Morachnick says that when it comes to religion it is safe to say that all religion texts can say some contradictions and that it is up to the interpreter to decide its intentions. People may think that Halal or Kosher meat is more “humane” but the truth is that there is no humane way to kill a living being that did not want to die.

In the sacred Islamic book Al Quran, there are many texts that praise animals such as, “All living beings roaming the earth and winged birds soaring in the sky are communities like yourselves. We have left nothing out of the Record. Then to their Lord they will be gathered all together.” Quran 6’38. Prophet Mohammed once said,”Whoever is kind to the creatures of God, is kind to himself.”

The PETA assistant advisor stress that unfortunately religion tends to give people the feeling that they can justify exploiting animals but actually the root of all religions encourage kindness and compassion. Morachnick says that, “God created animals with needs, desires as well as the capacity of feeling pain and suffering and we are morally obligated to take that into account.” If God created sentient animals to be abused and exploited, what does the devil do?

Eating animals is not sustainable

The significance of this subject is huge as we slaughter approximately 72 billion land animals and over 1.2 trillion aquatic animals for food around the world every year. According to the World Economic Forum’s Meat: The Future, the current trends in meat consumption cannot be sustained as the world’s population is reaching 10 billion. The documentary Cowspiracy (2014) states that animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction. A research conducted by USGS reports that animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34 to 76 trillion gallons annually.

Being vegan in a non vegan world

Nobody could ever imagine that Meira Geyser, a zealous animal rights activist that attends huge protests, marches and disruptions, has an utterly shy personality. When the singer decided to go vegan nothing stoped her, “I never thought that I would be the weird one, the outsider I just thought I should do what is right.”. Geyser knows exactly how being vegan in a world that normalizes animal abuse and slaughter can be extremely challenging. However, this is also the reason why non-human animals need us urgently. Being vegan is to stop seeing animals are products.

The macho stereotype

The toxic masculinity extends to how men treat animals. Aylam Orian says, “If you are a man you are supposed to enjoy a nice steak and go fishing on the weekends with your pals.” The actor and activist says that in order to show love to animals, humans usually protect pets, and even like this most men will have a big dog with him where he will be treated like more like a buddy. No surprise that most of the act of cruelty towards animals are done by men especially in factory farms or slaughterhouses.

Len Goldberg says that going vegan was something natural to him, “I have realized that eating animals was the biggest lie in human civilization. I just woke up to the truth and became a normal human being.” The broadcaster is very rational when talking about the macho stereotype, “Think about the most powerful mammal on Earth – the African elephant who weights more than 14.000 pounds – they are herbivores.”

Goldberg says that men love to talk about the horse power of their vehicles, “we are equating the machoness of our vehicles with the strength of a horse, a vegan animal.” He poses a question, “Plants are the primary source of protein, so why not think logical and go straight to the source?”

Have you ever asked a gorilla if he is getting enough protein? People eat meat thinking they will become strong as an ox or a gorilla. However, they forget the crucial point that both oxen and gorillas eat grass

The Canadian vegan activist says that any person can develop muscles eating plant-based food, “You can be very strong and athletic without eating chicken breasts, pig ribs and other animals body parts.” Goldberg says that one of the main duties of a true man is to protect the vulnerable, “if men consider themselves entitled to protect the vulnerable, why they are exploiting and eating them instead?” He says that there is nothing masculine about the massive killing of defenseless and innocent animals in which includes eating days old babies such as chicks, calves and piglets.

Legality does not equal morality

Activist Gary Francione says that, “Veganism is not about giving anything up or losing anything. It is about gaining the peace within yourself that comes naturally when you embrace nonviolence and refuse to participate in the exploitation of the vulnerable.” As black people do not belong to white people, women do not belong to men, animals are certainly not human property.

Tari Nengi decided to try a 1-month plant-based challenge called Veganuary in 2018 and she never wanted to eat animal products again. The school safeguard officer says that “atrocities are atrocities and they should be known as wrong in their own right.” Nengi says that going vegan changed her life completely and that being vegan is an ethical issue for humans too.

Vegan food is not rabbit food

Charlie Fyffe says that “there is absolutely no reason for people to keep killing and eating animals.” He became notorious in the food scene in Los Angeles with his delicious plant-based meals that went from tacos to his famous brownies.

The vegan chef loves to explore flavors of the Caribbean cuisine as his mother is from Jamaica. Fyffe says that his strategy to fight speciesism is “cooking for my family and friends so they can realize that vegan food can definitely be tasty.” He successfully fights against the stereotype that some people have thinking that vegans only eat lettuce and kale.

COVID-19 Pandemic

The next zoonotic pandemic could be avoided.The coronavirus is not the first viral pandemic that has originated from one of China’s polemic wildlife markets. In 2002 the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak was believed to have links to a similar wet market in the Guangzhou province.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals such as Mad Cow Disease, MERS. SARS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and the list goes on. Therefore, if humans did not use and kill animals we would not be sitting at home having this endless quarantine. We are killing animals that later are going to kill us with several diseases.

Why sanctuaries are crucial to fight speciesism?

Vale da Rainha Sanctuary was founded purposely in the middle of one of the largest livestock farming areas in Brazil. Founders Patricia Varela and Vittorino Favano started the sanctuary in 2001 in Camanducaia, city located in the rural state of Minas Gerais, with the giant mission of rescuing abused and neglected animals in order to fight speciesism.

The couple founded the Vale da Rainha Sanctuary, a non-profit home to over one hundred animals, on the belief that all living beings should be treated with respect. Varela says that, “Here at our sanctuary, we started to realize that we can live in harmony. The animals can live in harmony. And we, humans, can live in harmony with them.”

Vale da Rainha Sanctuary’s journey began in 2011 when the couple decided to leave the city and reconnect with nature. Since then, with the support of volunteers, they have run programs to tell stories of their animals with the goal of raising awareness in order to prevent new victims of animal based industries. Their motto is, “Things don’t change but people change and changed people change the world.”

Varela says that human ambition is leading to destruction, “Not only the destruction of the animals, but ours too.” The 47-year-old founder urges that all humans rescue this awareness, “We are at risk, all of us. Not just them [the non-human animals]. Of course here, we would like you to change your habits and stop eating them and also drinking their milk and stop of sources of exploitation but because of compassion, because of consciousness.”

The yoga instructor says that any motivation to become vegan is valid, “We do understand if your motivation is about the environment, health or about anything else, just do it.” She stressed how changing old and cruel habits matter, “Because every single being will benefit from your change. We are the only ones capable of changing Earth. They depend on us.”

Psychology can explain that once someone has a first-hand experience with farm animals, as happens in a sanctuary, it can help them to make the connection. Los Angeles Pierce College psychology professor Stephanie Winnard explains. “In many cases an awakening occurs where they realize that these animals – cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys and so forth – they have feelings.”

Professor Winnard says that once a person realizes that these farm animals can feel love, happiness, sadness and pain, such as cats and dogs, they are in the right direction for changing harmful habits.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Look for and watch these documentaries:

Dominion Documentary

Earthlings Documentary

Forks Over Knives Documentary

Speciesism Documentary

What The Health Documentary

 

Tags:  animal liberation animal rights chicken vigil cow vigil Jo-Anne McArthur livestock Patricia Varela pets pig vigil speciesism Vale da Rainha Santuario veganism Vitorino Favano We Animals