Dog Lovers Aren’t Always Animal Lovers

I rarely visit Twitter, for it can be a dark place. It’s even rarer that I engage with a stranger there. The thread pictured here illustrates why. Amber clearly loves dogs, but not spiders and snakes. I suggest she consider a different view of non-domesticated animals. For that, I am “fugging stupid.” Perhaps she’s right, expecting civil discourse on Twitter.

But I think this is an important topic, so I’m going to say it again: If we cannot value the lives of all non-human animals, and allow them the same right to life as we deign our inherent right as humans, can we at least value their lives in terms of the role they play in micro and macro ecosystems — rather than how charismatic they are, or in what way we can commodify them?

This is not my end goal; far from it. But perhaps it’s one small step people can take toward the moral realization that we humans are not more entitled to live freely than are other animals; nor do we do not have any right to decide which individuals and species have the right live freely, and which we can destroy at whim, directly and indirectly, to suit our desired lifestyle.