The Case for Animal Rights - 7/13/14

Well, I'm over my meltdown from yesterday. At one point, I told myself I thought I had gone too deep and I should probably stay closer to the surface. But I was wrong. I realized this morning that I had not gone deep enough. I must find the good, in spite of the bad. The deeper you go, the closer you are to the root - to the beginning - to the foundation.

In my journal I wrote, "We must stop killing. Period. We must become a race that respects all life." And then I wrote this to share here, "Here's what tortures me: A defenseless, caged animal, with humans deciding his fate. His life is in our hands. Why? Why do we think that's okay? He can't escape--he's helpless--while we decide if he lives or dies. What gives us that right? If we remove the option of killing him, it's surprising how resourceful human beings can be. But offered the easier solution, we are like the rivers--following the path of least resistance."

Being myself, that's where I started feeling like an idiot, talking about things I'm not an authority on and wouldn't know how to express anyway. So then I did a good thing - I dug deeper on the internet - I searched for "decide that we do not have the right to kill animals" and I found an authority. I am so excited to share!

"It is not an act of kindness to treat animals respectfully. It is an act of justice." - from "The Case for Animal Rights" by Tom Regan

Those already active in the animal rights arena will be familiar with Tom Regan. According to his bio, he is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University and has published hundreds of professional papers and more than twenty books. My first glimpse of his mind-blowing book "The Case for Animal Rights" came today and I will most certainly be buying this book, along with every other book he's written!

I found Professor Regan through Animals and Ethics [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] (3b). Then I googled "The Case for Animal Rights" and I found so much great stuff, that I don't really know what to choose to share here. This was absolutely thrilling reading for me. He says so many things that I've longed to hear another human being say.

The Case for Animal Rights - part/all of Chapter 7

And this is his website: Tom Regan - Rights & Writes, and just one of his essays: Animal Rights 101 - with 10 Reasons for Animal Rights and Their Explanations

And these are just two of his many books (they are not linked to anything - you will have to visit your preferred bookstore if you want to buy them or read reviews):


The Case for Animal Rights


Empty Cages

After all of this reading, I'm still not certain about the baby quail, but I might not be forced to decide, anyway. Last night I saw a cat near the area and I haven't seen the quail family in a few days.